crimes committed by totalitarian regimes - Ministrstvo za pravosodje

Crimes committed by totalitarian regimes
Nevertheless, formal and legal reasons did not stop the occupying authorities from thoroughly changing
or replacing the then Slovenian administration, school system, etc., thus integrating the occupied
regions into their social, political and cultural system in every respect. All existing political parties
and associations were, of course, abolished, as well as the existing administrative structure; instead of
districts, the Nazis organised prefectures headed by political commissars or land councillors.
All mayors and public servants were also replaced, including the lowest positions. Their places
were taken by civil servants from the Reich (especially from Austria) and credible members of the Nazi
Party, while lower posts were occupied by local Germans; only in the case of a thorough shortage of
civil servants were native Slovenians (“Windischer”) considered suitable. The administration functioned
exactly as it did in the German Reich, while political life under this totalitarian system was of course
controlled by the Nazi Party with the omnipresent divisions of the police and the security service.
The main goal of Nazi rule, however, was the thorough ethnic cleansing and Germanisation of the
population, and the fully German character of the occupied territories, achieved as soon as possible.
To this end, the new authorities foresaw and started implementing a number of measures. The first
was, of course, the complete removal of everything with a Slovenian character, either externally,
formally or substantively. Thus all Slovenian societies were abolished, along with political, civil and
economic associations and establishments, and property was confiscated. All Slovenian public signs
were replaced with German signs, and personal and geographical names were germanised; in some
cases even previously established German geographical names were replaced by new, “more German”
designations. All Slovenian schools were abolished, Slovenian printed material was forbidden and the
population was called upon to hand over all Slovenian books to the authorities; the Nazis ended up
burning more than two million Slovenian books. To make the population learn German and abandon
Slovene as soon as possible, the Nazis established new kindergartens, organised a great number of
German courses and generally built an elaborate system of Germanisation intended to cover all people
from childhood to late old age. Teachers and childcare providers were brought from Austrian territories,
and children and youth were made members of Nazi political and sport organisations. Slovene was
almost completely banished from churches as well, which was not difficult in view of the fact that
most Slovenian clergy were displaced to the territory of the Independent State of Croatia. Members
of the Orthodox Church were persecuted and their churches were pulled down, which of course did
not apply to Protestants, who were the only members of the German minority in Lower Styria. All
church property was confiscated, and the Maribor Bishop Ivan Tomažič was practically confined to
house arrest. 11 The principal organisations intended to promote Germanisation and Nazification were
the Styrian Patriotic Alliance (Steirischer Heimatbund) in Lower Styria and the Carinthian People’s
Union (Kärtner Volksbund) in Upper Carniola. It was not a coincidence that these two organisations
admitted all members of the Kulturbund, who immediately took the leading role. It was not a
coincidence, either, that some of the leading roles in the process of Germanisation were taken by the
well-known nationalist ideologues Carstanjen and Maier-Kaibitsch, who became regional leaders of the
Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle in Graz and Klagenfurt, respectively. Himmler designated the heads of both
civil administrations as persons empowered for the strengthening of German identity. 12
The occupied Slovenian territory was the only area in Europe where Nazis implemented a detailed
racial and political assessment of the whole population, which was connected with the awarding of
citizenship, although this issue was fully irrelevant according to international law. Due to understandable
opportunism, the majority of the population of Styria and Carinthia joined the Styrian Patriotic Alliance
and the Carinthian People’s Union. Nobody believed, however, that entry was voluntary, so the
authorities carried out a “perlustration” of the population, i.e. its racial and political assessment. Thus
the spring and summer saw the respective assessment of all members of the Styrian Patriotic Alliance,
and of the entire population in Upper Carniola. Racial marks ranked from I (very good) to IV (racially
inappropriate), while political marks ranked from A (prominently pro-German) to E (prominently anti-
German). The most common marks were III (average) in the racial and C (indifferent) in the political
aspect. On this basis, most of the applicants were admitted as temporary members of both organisations,
11
Miloš Rybář, “Nacistični ukrepi zoper duhovščino lavantinske škofije 1941–1945” (“Nazi Measures against the Clergy of the Lavantine
Diocese”), in: Zbornik ob 750-letnici mariborske škofije 1228–1978 (Miscellany on the 750 th Anniversary of the Maribor Diocese),
Maribor 1978, pp. 44–102.
12
Tone Ferenc, “Položaj slovenskega naroda ob okupaciji leta 1941” (“The Situation of the Slovenian Nation Upon Occupation in 1941”),
pp. 21–22, 29.
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