Kočevski Rog massacre

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Kočevski Rog massacre was a series of massacres near Kočevski Rog in late May 1945 in which thousands of members of the Nazi Germany–aligned Slovene Home Guard and their families were executed by special units of the Yugoslav Partisans.[1] 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) [2][3] 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. 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".[4]

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."[5] Karapandzic's report is confirmed in subsequent book by a group of scholars.[6]

See also

  • Bleiburg tragedy

References

  1. ↑ European Public Hearing on “Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes" Ref: Milko Mikola Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes. Chapter 3. Mass killings without court trials Page 159.
  2. ↑ Encyclopaedia Britannica: Slovenia (World War Two)
    • After the armistice the British repatriated more than 10,000 Slovene collaborators who had attempted to retreat with the Germans, and Tito had most of them massacred at the infamous “Pits of Kočevje.”
  3. ↑ www.enotes.com "Yugoslavia." Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. Ed. Dinah L. Shelton. Gale Cengage, 2005. eNotes.com. 2006. 26 Jun, 2010 Yugoslavia: Genocide & Crimes Against Humanity-Mark Thompson.
    • The killing continued after the war, as Tito's victorious forces took revenge on their real and perceived enemies. British forces in Austria turned back tens of thousands of fleeing Yugoslavs. Estimates range from 30,000 to 55,000 killed between spring and autumn 1945.
  4. ↑ Slovenia 1945: Memories of Death and Survival after World War II by John Corsellis & Marcus Ferrar. Pages 87, 204 & 250.
  5. ↑ book's title: KOCEVJE -Tito's bloodiest crime, year 1958
  6. ↑ book's title: Tudi mi smo umrli za domovino / Slovenia 1941-1948-1952: anche noi siamo morti per la Patria-translation: also us died in defense of homeland-by various authors, published in Trieste, year 2005, in Sloven language with Italian translation

Coordinates: 45°40′10.63″N 14°56′10.68″E / 45.6696194°N 14.9363000°E / 45.6696194; 14.9363000

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