Mass graves in Maribor
Mass graves in Maribor were created in Maribor, Slovenia, during and after the Second World War. The three known mass graves in Maribor itself and six additional mass graves in the immediate vicinity include some of the largest mass graves in Europe, and they have been compared to the Killing Fields in Cambodia.[1][2][3]
Background
By the end of the war, Maribor was the most destroyed and devastated major town in Yugoslavia.[4] The remaining German-speaking population, except those that had actively collaborated with the resistance during the war, was summarily expelled following the end of the war in 1945. At the same time, Croatian Home Guard members and their relatives trying to escape from Yugoslavia were massacred by the Yugoslav Army and buried in mass graves.
List of mass graves
Maribor is the site of several known mass graves associated with the Second World War:
- The Spodnje Radvanje Mass Grave (Slovene: Grobišče Spodnje Radvanje) lies south of the city, on the edge of a woods about 250 m from the house at Spodnje Radvanje no. 31. It contains the remains of unknown victims and its location was identified in 2002.[5]
- The Pond Mass Grave (Slovene: Grobišče za ribnikom) lies southwest of the city, at the site of a pond and adjacent woods. It contains the remains of unknown victims and its location was identified in 2002.[6]
- The Tezno mass graves (Slovene: Grobišče Tezenski gozd 1-6) lie southeast of the city, in a former antitank trench 3.5 km long. During freeway construction in 1999, 70 m of the trench was excavated, revealing the remains of 1,179 victims, mostly Croatian soldiers. Sounding confirmed burials in 981 m of the trench, which is estimated to contain the remains of over 15,000 victims.[7][8] The first grave is in the Tezno forest in Maribor, and another five are in Dogoše.
- An additional site belonging to the same cluster of mass graves is located in neighboring Bohova (one grave).
Notes
- ↑ "Forgotten Victims: Slovenian Mass Grave Could Be Europe's Killing Fields." 2007. Spiegel (21 August).
- ↑ "Slovenia opens WW2 mass graves - along with old wounds." 2007. Radio Prague (30 November).
- ↑ Ferenc, Mitja. 2012. "Independent Slovenia and Concealed Mass Graves." In Janez Juhant & Bojan Žalec (eds.), Reconciliation: The Way of Healing and Growth, pp. 233–240. Zurich: Lit Verlag, p. 236.
- ↑ http://www.zveza-msdbranik.si/vsebina/1/30/Po_2._svetovni_vojni.html
- ↑ Spodnje Radvanje Mass Grave on Geopedia (Slovene)
- ↑ Pond Mass Grave on Geopedia (Slovene)
- ↑ Tezno Woods 1 Mass Grave on Geopedia (Slovene)
- ↑ Corsellis, Johnn & Marcus Ferrar. 2005. Slovenia, 1945: Memories of Death and Survival After World War II. London: I.B. Tauris, p. 202.
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