Memorial meant to help bridge nation's divide unveiled in Ljubljana
Ljubljana, 5 December - The country's top officials unveiled in July a memorial dedicated to all war victims and victims of post-war violence, in what Slovenian authorities billed as a step towards ever elusive national reconciliation.
Ljubljana
Monument to all victims of war and war-related violence.
Photo: Anže Malovrh/STA
File photo
The memorial, located in Ljubljana's Congress Square and consisting of two slabs joined at the base, had been planned for almost a decade. The decisive push came from President Borut Pahor, who told a subdued inaugural ceremony that it made Slovenians a mature nation. Acknowledging what was a taboo topic under the Communist regime, the memorial also honours those who died in Communist-led reprisal killings after WWII.
In a related symbolic development seen as promoting reconciliation, the reburial of the remains of over 1,400 victims of post-WWII summary executions found in an abandoned mine at Huda Jama in 2009, the largest mass grave discovered in the country so far, was completed in October. The remains were buried at the Dobrava memorial park in Maribor.