By: Nova24tv.si
This May marks 80 years since the end of the Second World War – a date the ruling left and its affiliated institutions present as a glorious moment in Slovenian history. Across the country, there are ceremonies, speeches about “freedom,” “victory over fascism,” and the “national liberation struggle,” flag raisings, and veneration of the partisan myth. Yet, the view from the other side of the coin is far less celebratory – even chilling. The end of the war did not bring freedom, but rather the beginning of the greatest bloodshed experienced by the Slovenian and other Yugoslav peoples in their entire history.
May 9th, 1945, did not mark the beginning of a democratic future for Slovenians. Instead of breathing in the air of freedom after the defeat of Nazi-fascism, the Slovenian nation fell into a new form of totalitarianism. The Communist Party established a complete monopoly on power. The Slovenian “liberator” was, in fact, a regime that, in the early post-war years, operated along Stalinist lines and ruthlessly eliminated its opponents – political, class, or ideological.
Immediately after the end of the war, systematic extermination began – of prisoners, civilians, and anyone labelled by the new rulers as an “enemy of the people.” Without trials, without judgments – executed in forests, mines, pits, and ravines.
Slovenia – the land of hidden mass graves
To date, over 700 concealed execution sites have been documented in Slovenia, with the following locations standing out. Kočevski Rog – one of the most notorious sites, where thousands of Croats, Slovenians, and Serbs – mostly Home Guard members and civilians – were killed after being deceived with promises of amnesty. Huda Jama, Barbara Tunnel – a symbol of hidden atrocities, where, in 2009, the remains of more than 1,400 victims were discovered, many bound with wire. Tezno near Maribor – likely the largest mass grave in Europe, estimated to hold over 15,000 people, mostly Croats returning from Austria after the war ended. The scale of these crimes is unparalleled in Slovenian history. And yet – the authorities remain silent.
Croatia remembers – Slovenia still denies
These days, for instance, commemorations are held across Croatia in memory of post-war massacre victims – in Macelj, Tezno, and Bleiburg. The ceremonies include representatives of the state, the Church, veterans, and civil society. Croatia openly acknowledges the pain inflicted by communism.
In Slovenia, however, amid all the official holiday fanfare, not a single government-led commemoration takes place for the tens of thousands murdered. On the contrary – the national day of remembrance for victims of communist violence has been abolished, and the Museum of Slovenian Independence was shut down.
Leftist government and historical selectivity
The ruling left, which ideologically and personnel-wise still draws from the post-war partisan-communist legacy, avoids any serious reflection on these events. Worse still, it systematically erases traces of totalitarian history. It ambiguously glorifies communism as “socialism with a human face,” while shrugging off mass executions, concentration camps, show trials, and property seizures.
The standard bearers of this version of history often claim these are “grudges from the past,” “the victors’ justice,” or that the victims “collaborated with the occupiers.” Such discourse not only blames the victims – it entirely ignores thousands of innocent civilians, children, women, and clergy who ended up in mass graves without trial, without a grave, and without a name.
Was there really a “liberation” in 1991?
While communist repression somewhat eased over the decades after the war, true democratisation never occurred. In one of its rulings, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia clearly stated that the systematic and ongoing violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms lasted not just for a few years post-war, but continuously from May 9th, 1945, until the first free elections in 1990 – a span of 45 years. This means that Slovenia remained under a totalitarian regime that suppressed political pluralism, curtailed free speech, and repressed opposition.
That is why May 9th should not be celebrated as the 80th anniversary of liberation, but merely as the expulsion of one occupier and the arrival of another form of oppression. True liberation only came with Slovenia’s independence in 1991, when the country declared sovereignty and stepped onto the path of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Yet, even then, democracy was not fully realised due to the continued dominance of the post-communist left, which – with few interruptions – has remained in power ever since, as explained by Dr Milko Mikola, the first director of the Study Centre for National Reconciliation.