crimes committed by totalitarian regimes - Ministrstvo za pravosodje

Crimes committed by totalitarian regimes
the Kulturbund. The first wave of arrests began on 15 April. In Maribor, 300 persons were arrested by
security police (Sicherheitspolizei), SA and Wehrmacht – mainly members of the Slovene intelligentsia,
also clergymen. Because nearby prisons did not have enough space, those who had been arrested were
concentrated in assembly camps, for example military barracks, or as in Celje in the Capuchin monastery.
They were then brought to the Trappist monastery in Rajhenburg (Reichenburg), from where they were
transported to Croatia and Serbia. On 5 July 1941, the first group of diocesan priests and members of
religious orders was deported. From Lavant Diocese, a total of 366 clergymen were expelled to Croatia
and some to Serbia. The situation in Upper Carniola and Zasavje was similar: 184 diocesan priests
and 78 members of religious orders from Upper Carniola and some from Lower Carniola were sent to
Croatia. Because Prekmurje was first occupied by Germans, Slovene priests there were also arrested,
but could soon return home, that is, to the Hungarian zone of occupation.
Catholic clergymen were publicly insulted in front of their flocks; they were beaten, ridiculed,
not allowed to read the Holy Mass in prison, and so on. Especially humiliating were the so-called
compulsory exercises accompanied by beatings and threats. Priests were forced to clean lavatories with
their bare hands and act as street scavengers. In Maribor they were attached like horses to wagons, and
had to transport food for the prisoners. They were also forced to pull down the Serb Orthodox Church.
Nazis then used photos for propaganda purposes.
On 16 April 1941, Bishop Tomažič addressed to “the Führer of the German Reich His Excellency
Adolf Hitler” a declaration of loyalty in his name, in the name of the Roman Catholic population and
clergy, in accordance with the Holy Bible. He begged Hitler and German authorities to respect the
legitimate wishes of the Catholic population of both nationalities and to protect its existence. He ended
with a prayer from Timothy’s letter (2,1) in which he urged prayer for all responsible authorities, so that
“we can live a quiet life in piety and honour”.
Although the Bishop of Lavant, Ivan Tomažič, was completely powerless – he was practically
confined at the bishop’s seat – he courageously protested several times against the treatment of his clergy
verbally and in written form. For example, on 19 April 1941, from the Chief of the Civil Administration,
Dr Siegried Uiberreither, Bishop Tomažič wanted to attain the release of arrested priests, or at least
better treatment for those arrested. Uiberreither turned his requests down brusquely. In his opinion,
those arrested were political agitators. According to Uiberreither, “everything that stood in the Germans
way had to disappear – priests too”. He made it quite clear that they would not tolerate Slovene teachers
and officials, and announced that even in churches, only German will be allowed. The Bishop pointed
out that German was already used everywhere where the German minority lived (Maribor, Celje and
Ptuj) and suggested that at least for a transition period both languages be permitted. But Uibereither
was convinced that Slovenes in Lower Styria did not exist. Too clearly he said: “The German Reich
doesn’t need those, who do not feel as Germans. They can find their place in Carniola, Croatia, Serbia
...” Tomažič’s intervention with the Gestapo commander was also unsuccessful.
On 14 May, Chief of “Heimatbund” Franz Steindl explained to the Bishop that Germany will
never accept any Slovene minority in Lower Styria. All Slovenes would be deported, and German
priests taking over the religious services would be forbidden to learn Slovene. Tomažič stated rather
courageously: “I am here as a Bishop by the will of God, and I will fulfil my duty and safeguard my
rights until I will be brought away by force or until the Pope gives me the order to resign.” He promised
to act loyally but only if he would be able to do so according to Church teachings. 8
To help the arrested, the Bishop even decided to join the Heimatdienst (10 June), and asked his
clergy to do the same, in the hope that his clergy might be allowed to stay. The negative answer to
his application came months later, on 29 February 1942. 9 On several occasions he tried to intervene
again. The Bishop of Graz, Dr Ferdinand Pawlikowski, also intervened with Uiberreither about the poor
pastoral care of the faithful in Lower Styria, pointing out that only 90 out of 240 parishes had a priest.
Religious practices were severely obstructed in Upper Carniola and in Styria. The Bishop of Gurk
Diocese, Dr Andreas Rohracher, sent five priests to Upper Carniola, which had jurisdiction over 131
parishes and about 200,000 believers. On religious holidays, up to 20 more priests helped to administer
8
Miloš Rybar, “Nacistični ukrepi zoper duhovščino lavantinske škofije 1941–1945”, in: Zbornik ob 750. letnici Mariborske škofije,
Maribor 1978, pp. 44-102; Tamara Griesser Pečar, Das Zerrissene Volk. Slowenien 1941–1945, pp. 17–44.
9
Although formal annexation was not implemented, the Germans passed a decree regarding citizenship of people on the occupied territory
that was put into practice in Upper Carniola in autumn 1941 and in Lower Styria in spring 1942. Slovene clergymen were put into the
category of “protected dependants” (“Schutzangehörige des Deutschen Reiches”), which meant that they could not become members of
the “Heimatbund”.
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