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4: CASE STUDY 1: THE ITALIAN/SLOVENIAN BORDER When Gorizia/Gorica fell within Italian territory a large section of its hinterland, now within Yugoslavian territory, was suddenly without a centre. Apart from Solkan and Šempeter, which were only small villages, the majority of the land within the now Yugoslavian territory consisted of farmland (Figure 20). The railway station, the northern of Gorizia/Gorica’s two stations, was the only infrastructure that had been given to Yugoslavia. A new Gorizia or Nova Gorica as it was called in Slovenian was to be built. Youth groups were brought from all over Yugoslavia to help with the building of this town. Many of the local people also took part in the work. According to the information and reports presented in the papers about the project at the time the workers were helping out as volunteers due to their conviction and belief in the socialist system. Historian Drago Sedmak, who works at the Goriški Musej Archive, explains however that for many it was more of an opportunity to work as food and three meals per day were provided (Drago Sedmak, 2011, pers. comm. 1 st August). Pictures from the time show how the open fields were drained and how streets, streetlights and buildings etc. developed into what was to become Nova Gorica. In the period after the new border had been established times were difficult also in Gorizia as many of its producers of goods or customers no longer could get here. Over time new networks were developed on both sides of the border which came to separate the two towns more and more until they operated almost independently of each other. Today a walk through the towns of Gorizia and Nova Gorica demonstrate their very different development. Gorizia with its windy, cobbled roads and sometimes highly narrow alleys demonstrates the slow, organic development the town has had. Old maps of the town show how the city started on the fortified hill above the current town and slowly spread downwards and outwards. Nova Gorica, on the other hand, shows all the signs of a planned town with its straight and broad streets crossing each other at straight angles. Nova Gorica is laid out in a grid with roads running in straight lines from north to south and from east to west. The exception is Ejavčeva Ulica which stretches from the San Gabriele crossing and Gorizia into the heart of Nova Gorica in a southwest–northeast direction. This was the original road heading out of Gorizia/Gorica eastwards and out to what used to be the town’s former cemetery. This older road stands in contrast to the rest of Nova Gorica’s planned and organised layout. The roads in Nova Gorica are not narrow and windy as in Gorizia but straight and wide. Over the decades since it was established the town has stretched out in all directions, the different building phases visible within its fabric: the municipal building, the first to be built, 77
AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE IRON CURTAIN together with its immediately surroundings by the road Kidričeva Ulica; the first high rise blocks built in the 1960s to the south of the original cluster; and the recent suburbs expanding along the edges of the city all represent parts of the towns short history. I do not get lost in Nova Gorica but in Gorizia I lose my way all the time, taking a shortcut that leads somewhere completely different. The different stories of these two towns are apparent in their composition and their differences are the consequence of the border imposed on the area in 1947. Figure 20: Picture of the area soon to become Nova Gorica photographed in 1947. The crossing in the picture is today the corner between the streets of Erjavčeva ulica and Škabrijelova ulica. Property of Goriški Muzej, Nova Gorica, Slovenia A border in constant change “A soldier is a soldier, fear is fear and life is life” (Velušček and Medved 2002) Between 1946 and 1948 security was at its highest with Yugoslavian authorities establishing a 5 km security zone along the border. The border was patrolled and soldiers had orders to shoot at anyone trying to cross. Mines and signals were placed by the border in the evenings and were removed in the mornings. Often both the people trying to cross illegally and the guards patrolling the border were armed which created a major insecurity on both parties and a risk of being shot or shooting someone yourself. Often just the insecurity itself led to shootings. It was not unusual for gunfire to be heard 78
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4: CASE STUDY 1: THE ITALIAN/SLOVENIAN BORDER<br />
When Gorizia/Gorica fell within Italian territory a large section of its<br />
hinterland, now within Yugoslavian territory, was suddenly without a<br />
centre. Apart from Solkan and Šempeter, which were only small villages, the<br />
majority of the land within the now Yugoslavian territory consisted of<br />
farmland (Figure 20). The railway station, the northern of Gorizia/Gorica’s<br />
two stations, was the only infrastructure that had been given to Yugoslavia.<br />
A new Gorizia or Nova Gorica as it was called in Slovenian was to be built.<br />
Youth groups were brought from all over Yugoslavia to help with the<br />
building of this town. Many of the local people also took part in the work.<br />
According to the information and reports presented in the papers about the<br />
project at the time the workers were helping out as volunteers due to their<br />
conviction and belief in the socialist system. Historian Drago Sedmak, who<br />
works at the Goriški Musej Archive, explains however that for many it was<br />
more of an opportunity to work as food and three meals per day were<br />
provided (Drago Sedmak, 2011, pers. comm. 1 st August). Pictures from the<br />
time show how the open fields were drained and how streets, streetlights<br />
and buildings etc. developed into what was to become Nova Gorica. In the<br />
period after the new border had been established times were difficult also in<br />
Gorizia as many of its producers of goods or customers no longer could get<br />
here. Over time new networks were developed on both sides of the border<br />
which came to separate the two towns more and more until they operated<br />
almost independently of each other.<br />
Today a walk through the towns of Gorizia and Nova Gorica demonstrate<br />
their very different development. Gorizia with its windy, cobbled roads and<br />
sometimes highly narrow alleys demonstrates the slow, organic development<br />
the town has had. Old maps of the town show how the city started on the<br />
fortified hill above the current town and slowly spread downwards and<br />
outwards. Nova Gorica, on the other hand, shows all the signs of a planned<br />
town with its straight and broad streets crossing each other at straight angles.<br />
Nova Gorica is laid out in a grid with roads running in straight lines from<br />
north to south and from east to west. The exception is Ejavčeva Ulica which<br />
stretches from the San Gabriele crossing and Gorizia into the heart of Nova<br />
Gorica in a southwest–northeast direction. This was the original road heading<br />
out of Gorizia/Gorica eastwards and out to what used to be the town’s former<br />
cemetery. This older road stands in contrast to the rest of Nova Gorica’s<br />
planned and organised layout. The roads in Nova Gorica are not narrow and<br />
windy as in Gorizia but straight and wide. Over the decades since it was<br />
established the town has stretched out in all directions, the different building<br />
phases visible within its fabric: the municipal building, the first to be built,<br />
77