President says intl law often pawn on chessboard of great powers
Šentjernej, 16 March - A WWII battle was commemorated on Saturday in which the German occupying forces and their Slovenian collaborators destroyed a Partisan unit 80 years ago in the east of the country. President Nataša Pirc Musar stressed that the site must serve as a reminder of the unacceptability of the horrors of war and of Nazi violence.
Šentjernej
A memorial site at Javorovica, east, where the Nazis and their Slovenian collaborators Home Guard destroyed the Partisan Cankar Brigade on 16 March 1944.
Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA
Šentjernej
A memorial site at Javorovica, east, where the Nazis and their Slovenian collaborators Home Guard destroyed the Partisan Cankar Brigade on 16 March 1944.
Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA
Šentjernej
A memorial site at Javorovica, east, where the Nazis and their Slovenian collaborators Home Guard destroyed the Partisan Cankar Brigade on 16 March 1944.
Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA
Šentjernej
President Nataša Pirc Musar arriving at the memorial site at Javorovica, east, where the Nazis and their Slovenian collaborators Home Guard destroyed the Partisan Cankar Brigade on 16 March 1944.
Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA
Šentjernej
A memorial site at Javorovica, east, where the Nazis and their Slovenian collaborators Home Guard destroyed the Partisan Cankar Brigade on 16 March 1944.
Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA
Local WWII veteran organisations annually remember 16 March 1944 when German soldiers and their Domobranci collaborators attacked the 4th battalion of the Cankar Brigade, killing 113 Partisans at Javorovica in the hilly Gorjanci region near Croatia. 16 managed to escape.
Addressing the commemoration, Pirc Musar drew attention to the devastation caused by war, stressing that human life and freedom are invaluable and must always be respected as the foundation of coexistence and humanity, the president's office said.
She expressed concern that global solidarity and humanity are still often being put to test. "Too often, international law and human rights become pawns on the chessboard of the interests of great powers. We really mustn't allow this to happen."
Calling for a culture of remembrance, especially among youth, she stressed that it is very important to preserve the importance of the WWII national resistance movement and the memory of the horrors of fascism and Nazism, but at the same time face the dark chapters of Slovenian history.
"We must be able to work together, forgive and make sure that the horrors of war never repeat. We must also give a decent burial to the victims of the post-war killings, without, of course, allowing the facts of history to be changed," Pirc Musar stressed.