Tezno mass graves

The Tezno mass graves are a series of six grave sites where bodies of killed POWs of the Independent State of Croatia and civilians were buried during the Bleiburg repatriations. The killings were perpetrated by units of the Yugoslav Partisans in May 1945, after the end of World War II in Yugoslavia. The graves are located near Maribor, Slovenia, in the Tezno trench, southeast of the city district of Tezno, in a forested area east of the A1 motorway. The first grave site is located within Maribor city limits, west of the village of Miklavž na Dravskem Polju. The others are located near Dogoše.

History

Tezno trench

Location of Tezno trench on the map of Slovenia, marked in red.

During World War II, an anti-tank trench was dug in Tezno, around one km in length and 3 to 4 m wide. At the end of WWII in 1945, in the events collectively referred to as the Bleiburg repatriations, the Yugoslav Partisans buried numerous bodies of executed prisoners of war from the Independent State of Croatia in the trench.

In 2007, the Commission on Concealed Mass Graves in Slovenia reported that their analysis of what is now a forested area in Tezno found human remains at a length of 740 m; the exact number of victims could not be determined, but historian Mitja Ferenc estimated a minimum of 15,000.^[1] In 2007, the Slovene government started plans to make the mass grave site in Tezno a memorial park and cemetery.^[2]

In June 2010, Croatian president Ivo Josipović visited the site.^[3][4] In 2012, the entire Croatian leadership laid wreaths only at the monument in Tezno.^[5] The part of the trench in Tezno in Maribor is officially designated the Tezno Woods 1 Mass Grave.^[6]

The Tezno Woods 2–6 Mass Graves (Slovene: Grobišče Tezenski gozd 2–6) lie west of the settlement of Dogoše, between the Zlatoličje hydroelectric plant canal and Maribor, and are part of a former antitank trench^{[7][8][9][10][11]} 3.5 km long. During freeway construction in 1999, 70 m of the trench was excavated, revealing the remains of 1,179 victims, mostly Croatian soldiers. Sounding confirmed burials in 981 m of the trench, which is estimated to contain the remains of over 15,000 victims.

Commemoration

Josip Leko, the then Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, lays a wreath at the Tezno Memorial

In 2012, under the centre-left government of Zoran Milanović, the Croatian Parliament decided to revoke funding for the annual Bleiburg commemoration and shifted to a smaller commemoration at the Tezno site. In 2015, after laying a wreath in Tezno, the then Prime Minister Milanović said:^[12]

I came here for the people who were killed at the end of a war. This is a tragic, horrible event which puts a stain on a just fight and one should not run from it, nor do I run from it. Places like this always cause uneasiness, but they must be accepted and heads must not be turned away from them.

Tezno Memorial

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See also

• Mass graves in Maribor

References

1. "Tezno je najveća masovna grobnica Hrvata". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). 11 September 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
2. Memorial park in Tezno planned, sarajevo-x.com; accessed 4 February 2016.
3. Josipovic lays wreath at post-World War II mass graves
4. "Josipović odao počast žrtvama na Bleiburgu" (in Croatian). RTL Televizija. 20 June 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
5. "Top Croatian officials commemorate Tezno victims". T-portal.hr. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
6. Tezno Woods 1 Mass Grave on Geopedia (Slovene)
7. Tezno Woods 2 Mass Grave on Geopedia (Slovene)
8. Tezno Woods 3 Mass Grave on Geopedia (Slovene)
9. Tezno Woods 4 Mass Grave on Geopedia (Slovene)
10. Tezno Woods 5 Mass Grave on Geopedia (Slovene)
11. Tezno Woods 6 Mass Grave on Geopedia (Slovene)
12. "Prime Minister condemns all crimes in Tezno". vlada.gov.hr. Retrieved 4 February 2016.

External links

• Tezno Woods 1 Mass Grave on Geopedia (Slovene)
• Tezno Woods 2 Mass Grave on Geopedia (Slovene)
• Memorial website (Slovene)

Coordinates: 46°31′4.18″N 15°41′31.65″E / 46.5178278°N 15.6921250°E