Battle of Dražgoše

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The Battle of Dražgoše was a Second World War battle between Slovenian partisans and German troops, which took place between January 9 and January 11, 1942, in the village of Dražgoše. This battle was the first direct confrontation of the war between the two.

Fighting (both numerically and equipment-wise) vastly superior Germans the partisan Cankar's Battalion (numbering 240 combatants) suffered nine casualties throughout the entire battle, 5 of whom were machine gunners, the other 4 being their assistants. German forces (numering ~2000 men) suffered about 160 casualties.

After 3 days of fighting, the partisans were forced to flee the village. German troops executed 17 male civilians immediately upon having secured a portion of the village. During the evening of the following day, a further 18 male residents who had previously escaped, only to be apprehended as they returned were executed, houses were looted and the village was set on fire. When the fires died down, the Germans then demolished the entire villag, the remaining villagers were then rounded up and sent to concentration camps.

After the war Dražgoše was entirely rebuilt.

Two days after this engagement, German troops attacked two partisan platoons on Mošenjska planina, during this 13 hour engagement some 12 Partisans were killed and 5 were wounded.