Kocevski Rog
Encyclopedia
The Kočevski Rog or Kočevje Rog or simply Rog is a karst
ified 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 Rog. The plateau is densely forested. The only ski slope in Lower Carniola
, Rog-Črmošnjice (or Gače) also lies in the vicinity of Rog.
, was settled in the late 14th century by the Carinthian Count
s of Ortenburg
initially with colonists from the Ortenburg estates in Carinthia and Tyrol, and by other settlers who came from Austrian and German Dioceses of Salzburg
, Brixen
and Freising
. The settlers cleared the vacant and heavily forested land, and established towns and rural villages. The area of Carniola that was to become Gottschee had been a strategic part of the Holy Roman Empire
since the year 800. As a result, there were a number of important fortifications in and around Gottschee. Gottschee received its municipal charter and city seal in 1471. The Gottschee ethnic and linguistic area consisted of more than 180 villages organized into 31 townships and parishes.
Gottscheer began to emigrate from their homeland around 1870, with most going to the United States
. With the end of the Habsburg Monarchy
in 1918, Gottschee became a part of the new Kingdom of Yugoslavia
. Thus, the Gottscheer went from being part of the ruling ethnicity of Austria-Hungary
(and the ruling group in the estates of the province of Carniola
itself) to an ethnic minority in a large Slavic state.
and agitated for "assistance" and "repatriation" to the Reich
before the Wehrmacht
invasion in 1941, most Gottscheer had no interest in reuniting with Greater Germany or joining the Nazis. They had been integrated into society with their Slovenian neighbors, often intermarrying among Slovenians and becoming bilingual while maintaining their Germanic language and customs since their arrival in the region in the late 14th century. However, propaganda and Nazi ideology prevailed, and following an agreement between Benito Mussolini
and Adolf Hitler
, the VoMi began planning the Gottschee "resettlement" (forced expulsion) from the Italian occupation zone to the [Brežice|Rann]]er Dreieck or Rann Triangle, a region in Lower Styria
between the confluences of the Krka
, Sotla, and Sava rivers.
To achieve that goal, accommodation had to be made for the Gottschee "settlers" and some 46,000 Slovenians in the Rann Triangle region were forcibly deported to eastern Germany for potential Germanisation
or forced labor beginning in November 1941. Shortly before that time, a largely transparent propaganda effort was aimed toward both the Gottscheer and the Slovenians, promising the latter equivalent farmland in Germany for the land relinquished in Lower Styria. The Gottscheer were given Reich passports and transportation to the Rann area just after the forced departure of the Slovenians. Most Gottschee left their homes due to coercion and threats since the VoMi had a deadline of December 31, 1941 for the mass movement of both groups. Though many Gottscheer did receive farmland and households, these were of lesser quality than their own, and many were in disarray from the hasty forced expulsion of the Slovenians.
From the time of their arrival to the end of the war, Gottschee farmers were harassed and sometimes killed by Josip Broz Tito
's partisans. The attempt to resettle the Gottscheer was a costly failure for the Nazi regime, since extra manpower was required to protect the farmers from the partisans. In 1945 the Gottscheer mostly fled to Austria
and Germany
.
Most Gottschee were as much victims as the Slovenians deported to the Reich, though the former were not used for forced labor as the latter were. The deported Slovenians were taken to several camps in Saxony
, Silesia
, and elsewhere in Germany where they were forced to work on German farms or in factories run by German industries from 1941-1945. The forced laborers were not always kept in formal concentration camps, but often just vacant buildings where they slept until the next day's labor took them outside these quarters. Toward the close of the war, these camps were liberated by American and Soviet troops, and the later repatriated Slovenian refugees returned to Yugoslavia to find their homes in shambles. Since then, the Rog area has been largely uninhabited.
by the Wehrmacht
on 6 April 1941, and groups of Partisans
began to gather in the Kočevski Rog as early as August 1941. From May 1942 on, large areas of liberated territory were established in the Lower Carniola
, the Inner Carniola and the White Carniola
, with the Kočevski Rog as the centre of resistance to the occupation and home to the leadership of the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
. Following an Italian offensive in the summer of 1942, the leaders fled to forested hills above Polhov Gradec
, where they decided that Rog would be the location of Partisan hospitals, workshops, schools printing houses and stores. The leadership returned to Rog on 17 April 1943, setting up a major facility with associated barracks called Baza 20 (Base 20), which is still preserved and today is a tourist attraction. It became the headquarters of the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
, the headquarters of the High Command of Slovene Partisan
troops and of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovenia (CK KPS).
The Kočevski Rog was also a location where thousands of people, such as the Slovene Home Guard and their families, were executed by special units of the Yugoslav Army in late May 1945. They were thrown into various pits and caves, which were then sealed with explosives. Several thousand (between 10,000 and 12,000, according to certain sources) war prisoners, repatriated by the British military authorities from Austria, where they had fled, died in these post-war summary executions.
The Russian British author Nikolai Tolstoy
wrote an account of the events in his book The Minister and the Massacres, although the book was the subject of strong criticism. British author John Corsellis, who served in Austria
with the British Army, has written a historic book of these events, called "Slovenia 1945: Memories of Death and Survival after World War II".
Boris Karapandzic writes that there were 12,000 Slovenian "home guards," 3,000 Serbian volunteer troops, 1,000 Montenegrin "chetniks," and 2,500 Croatian "home guards."Karapandzic's report is confirmed in subsequent book by a group of scholars.
(Selected as "Book of the Year" 2005 in the Times Literary Supplement by John Bayley, literary critic, retired Oxford University Professor and widower of Iris Murdoch. The authors wrote to Prime Minister Tony Blair asking for Britain to make a gesture of regret to Slovenia for sending back the surrendered soldiers.)
KARST
Kilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope is a Chinese telescope project to which FAST is a forerunner. KARST is a set of large spherical reflectors on karst landforms, which are bowlshaped limestone sinkholes named after the Kras region in Slovenia and Northern Italy. It will consist of...
ified plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
in the Kočevje Highlands above the Črmošnjice Valley. The plateau is part of the traditional Lower Carniola
Lower Carniola
Lower Carniola was a kreis of the historical Habsburg crown land of Carniola from 1849 till 1919 and is nowadays a traditional region of Slovenia. Its center is Novo Mesto, while other urban centers include Kočevje, Grosuplje, Krško, Trebnje, Mirna, Črnomelj, Semič, and Metlika.-See also:* Upper...
region of 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...
and of the Dinaric Alps
Dinaric Alps
The Dinaric Alps or Dinarides form a mountain chain in Southern Europe, spanning areas of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro....
. The highest area is the central part, with the 1099 meter high peak Veliki Rog. The plateau is densely forested. The only ski slope in Lower Carniola
Lower Carniola
Lower Carniola was a kreis of the historical Habsburg crown land of Carniola from 1849 till 1919 and is nowadays a traditional region of Slovenia. Its center is Novo Mesto, while other urban centers include Kočevje, Grosuplje, Krško, Trebnje, Mirna, Črnomelj, Semič, and Metlika.-See also:* Upper...
, Rog-Črmošnjice (or Gače) also lies in the vicinity of Rog.
The Gottscheers
This area, known in German as GottscheeGottschee County
Gottschee County refers to the former German speaking region in the Duchy of Carniola , a crownland of the Habsburg Empire, located in modern day Slovenia...
, was settled in the late 14th century by the Carinthian Count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
s of Ortenburg
Ortenburg
Ortenburg is a municipality and old market town in the district of Passau in Bavaria in Germany.-History:Set in the Wolfach River valley, Ortenburg can look back over a 900 year history. In about 1120 it was established by the Princes of Ortenburg. At the same time the upwardly mobile von Kamm...
initially with colonists from the Ortenburg estates in Carinthia and Tyrol, and by other settlers who came from Austrian and German Dioceses of Salzburg
Salzburg (state)
Salzburg is a state or Land of Austria with an area of 7,156 km2, located adjacent to the German border. It is also known as Salzburgerland, to distinguish it from its capital city, also named Salzburg...
, Brixen
Brixen
Brixen is the name of two cities in the Alps:*Brixen, South Tyrol, Italy*Brixen im Thale, Tyrol, AustriaBrixen may also refer to:*Bishopric of Brixen, the former north-Italian state....
and Freising
Freising
Freising is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district Freising. Total population 48,500.The city is located north of Munich at the Isar river, near the Munich International Airport...
. The settlers cleared the vacant and heavily forested land, and established towns and rural villages. The area of Carniola that was to become Gottschee had been a strategic part of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
since the year 800. As a result, there were a number of important fortifications in and around Gottschee. Gottschee received its municipal charter and city seal in 1471. The Gottschee ethnic and linguistic area consisted of more than 180 villages organized into 31 townships and parishes.
Gottscheer began to emigrate from their homeland around 1870, with most going to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. With the end of the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
in 1918, Gottschee became a part of the new Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
. Thus, the Gottscheer went from being part of the ruling ethnicity of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
(and the ruling group in the estates of the province of Carniola
Carniola
Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is now Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola...
itself) to an ethnic minority in a large Slavic state.
The Gottscheer 1935-1945
While some Gottscheer community leaders had embraced NazismNazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and agitated for "assistance" and "repatriation" to the Reich
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
before the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
invasion in 1941, most Gottscheer had no interest in reuniting with Greater Germany or joining the Nazis. They had been integrated into society with their Slovenian neighbors, often intermarrying among Slovenians and becoming bilingual while maintaining their Germanic language and customs since their arrival in the region in the late 14th century. However, propaganda and Nazi ideology prevailed, and following an agreement between Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
and Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, the VoMi began planning the Gottschee "resettlement" (forced expulsion) from the Italian occupation zone to the [Brežice|Rann]]er Dreieck or Rann Triangle, a region in Lower Styria
Lower Styria
Lower Styria or Slovenian Styria is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Lower Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia...
between the confluences of the Krka
Krka (Slovenia)
The Krka is a river in the historic Lower Carniola region of Slovenia, a right tributary of the Sava.It sources at Gradiček near the village of Krka, about southwest of Ivančna Gorica and around southeast of Ljubljana, before flowing southeast...
, Sotla, and Sava rivers.
To achieve that goal, accommodation had to be made for the Gottschee "settlers" and some 46,000 Slovenians in the Rann Triangle region were forcibly deported to eastern Germany for potential Germanisation
Germanisation
Germanisation is both the spread of the German language, people and culture either by force or assimilation, and the adaptation of a foreign word to the German language in linguistics, much like the Romanisation of many languages which do not use the Latin alphabet...
or forced labor beginning in November 1941. Shortly before that time, a largely transparent propaganda effort was aimed toward both the Gottscheer and the Slovenians, promising the latter equivalent farmland in Germany for the land relinquished in Lower Styria. The Gottscheer were given Reich passports and transportation to the Rann area just after the forced departure of the Slovenians. Most Gottschee left their homes due to coercion and threats since the VoMi had a deadline of December 31, 1941 for the mass movement of both groups. Though many Gottscheer did receive farmland and households, these were of lesser quality than their own, and many were in disarray from the hasty forced expulsion of the Slovenians.
From the time of their arrival to the end of the war, Gottschee farmers were harassed and sometimes killed by Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
's partisans. The attempt to resettle the Gottscheer was a costly failure for the Nazi regime, since extra manpower was required to protect the farmers from the partisans. In 1945 the Gottscheer mostly fled to Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Most Gottschee were as much victims as the Slovenians deported to the Reich, though the former were not used for forced labor as the latter were. The deported Slovenians were taken to several camps in Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
, Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
, and elsewhere in Germany where they were forced to work on German farms or in factories run by German industries from 1941-1945. The forced laborers were not always kept in formal concentration camps, but often just vacant buildings where they slept until the next day's labor took them outside these quarters. Toward the close of the war, these camps were liberated by American and Soviet troops, and the later repatriated Slovenian refugees returned to Yugoslavia to find their homes in shambles. Since then, the Rog area has been largely uninhabited.
World War II
Yugoslavia was invadedInvasion of Yugoslavia
The Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II...
by the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
on 6 April 1941, and groups of Partisans
Partisans (Yugoslavia)
The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...
began to gather in the Kočevski Rog as early as August 1941. From May 1942 on, large areas of liberated territory were established in the Lower Carniola
Lower Carniola
Lower Carniola was a kreis of the historical Habsburg crown land of Carniola from 1849 till 1919 and is nowadays a traditional region of Slovenia. Its center is Novo Mesto, while other urban centers include Kočevje, Grosuplje, Krško, Trebnje, Mirna, Črnomelj, Semič, and Metlika.-See also:* Upper...
, the Inner Carniola and the White Carniola
White Carniola
White Carniola is a traditional region in southeastern Slovenia on the border with Croatia and is the most southern part of the historical and traditional region of Lower Carniola. Its major towns are Metlika, Črnomelj, and Semič, and the principal river is the Kolpa, which also forms part of the...
, with the Kočevski Rog as the centre of resistance to the occupation and home to the leadership of the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
On 26 April 1941 in Ljubljana the Anti-Imperialist Front was established. It was to promote "an international massive movement" to "liberate the Slovenian nation" whose "hope and example was the Soviet Union"...
. Following an Italian offensive in the summer of 1942, the leaders fled to forested hills above Polhov Gradec
Dobrova-Polhov Gradec
Dobrova - Polhov Gradec a municipality in Slovenia. The main settlements in the municipality are Dobrova and Polhov Gradec.-External links:*...
, where they decided that Rog would be the location of Partisan hospitals, workshops, schools printing houses and stores. The leadership returned to Rog on 17 April 1943, setting up a major facility with associated barracks called Baza 20 (Base 20), which is still preserved and today is a tourist attraction. It became the headquarters of the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
On 26 April 1941 in Ljubljana the Anti-Imperialist Front was established. It was to promote "an international massive movement" to "liberate the Slovenian nation" whose "hope and example was the Soviet Union"...
, the headquarters of the High Command of Slovene Partisan
Partisans (Yugoslavia)
The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...
troops and of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovenia (CK KPS).
World War II aftermath
The Russian British author Nikolai Tolstoy
Nikolai Tolstoy
Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Tolstoy-Miloslavsky is an Anglo-Russian historian and author who writes under the name Nikolai Tolstoy. A member of the prominent Tolstoy family, he is of part Russian descent and is the stepson of the author Patrick O'Brian...
wrote an account of the events in his book The Minister and the Massacres, although the book was the subject of strong criticism. British author John Corsellis, who served in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
with the British Army, has written a historic book of these events, called "Slovenia 1945: Memories of Death and Survival after World War II".
Boris Karapandzic writes that there were 12,000 Slovenian "home guards," 3,000 Serbian volunteer troops, 1,000 Montenegrin "chetniks," and 2,500 Croatian "home guards."Karapandzic's report is confirmed in subsequent book by a group of scholars.
External links
- Slovenia 1945 Book Official Site - Memories of Death and Survival.
(Selected as "Book of the Year" 2005 in the Times Literary Supplement by John Bayley, literary critic, retired Oxford University Professor and widower of Iris Murdoch. The authors wrote to Prime Minister Tony Blair asking for Britain to make a gesture of regret to Slovenia for sending back the surrendered soldiers.)