Kočevski Rog massacre

The Kočevski Rog massacre was a series of massacres near Kočevski Rog in late May 1945 in which thousands of members of the Nazi Germany–allied Slovene Home Guard and their families were executed without formal charges or trial by special units of the Yugoslav Partisans.[1] They were thrown into various pits and caves, which were then sealed with explosives. There were thousands of victims (between 10,000 and 12,000, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.

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."[2][3] 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, mostly prisoners of war repatriated by the British military authorities from Austria, where they had fled, died in these post-war summary executions.[4]

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, also wrote of these events in his book, Slovenia 1945: Memories of Death and Survival after World War II.[5]

See also

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", p. 159. Archived 2 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ Dinah L. Shelton (ed.) "Yugoslavia", Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, Gale Cengage, 2005. eNotes.com. 2006, 26 June 2010.
  3. ↑ Mark Thompson. Yugoslavia: Genocide & Crimes Against Humanity
  4. ↑ Kranjc, Joseph G. To Walk with the Devil (2013), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 15.
  5. ↑ Slovenia 1945, Memories of Death and Survival after World War II by John Corsellis & Marcus Ferrar, pp. 87, 204, 250.

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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