Yugoslav Partisans

The UNESCO-listed Franja Partisan Hospital, one of the most iconic monuments to the partisan struggle in World War II, has been badly damaged in a storm that swept through northern Slovenia on 13 July.

Three of the 14 wooden buildings have been swept away and another three damaged. The flood wave also destroyed the last part of the access path and electric infrastructure.

A lecture given by two well-known Serbian historians in Zagreb earlier this week has caused controversy in Croatia because it appeared to show sympathy for the Serbian nationalist Chetnik movement in World War II.

The Higher State Prosecution launched an investigation into the mass killings in July 2019, and political parties and civic activists called on the authorities to exhume the remains from the cave and identify the victims.

When the Zagreb city authorities removed the name of former Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito from a prominent square in September 2017, Danijela Matijevic said she felt "revolted".

Several historians have criticised the Serbian authorities after Chetnik movement leader Dragoslav 'Draza' Mihailovic's picture was displayed alongside that of Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito at a state-sponsored event at the National Theatre in Belgrade on Sunday to commemorate Victory Day in World War II.

Sežana – An association fostering memory of the anti-Fascist underground organisation has distanced itself from the state Resistance Day ceremony at a monument to three TIGR members, which they see as distortion of history.

Ljubljana – The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU) has presented a statement on reconciliation, underlining that Slovenians must reach an consensus about basic values on which the nations is founded. The past must be confronted because clarification is the only way to catharsis and reconciliation, the statement says.

Dražgoše – President Borut Pahor honoured the 79th anniversary of a major World War II battle as he laid a wreath at the Dražgoše memorial in the north-west of the country on Sunday. Addressing the media, he was hopeful the nation would celebrate the 30th anniversary of Slovenia’s independence united.

The World Jewish Congress, an international organisation representing Jewish communities, praised on Monday the Austrian parliament's adoption of a proposed ban on the annual commemoration of the killings of Croatian Nazi-allied troops and civilians at Bleiburg in Austria by the Yugoslav Partisans at the end of World War II.

Some also noted that this controversial issue might have been deliberately politicised and used to fuel party campaigns ahead of elections that will be taking place across the region in the coming months. Croatia and Serbia are to hold general elections at the end of June while Bosnia is scheduled to have local elections in October.