Exhumations of WWII victims in Slovenia await Croatian funding

The process of exhuming victims from hidden mass graves in Slovenia, dating back to the end of World War II, is contingent on Croatia providing the necessary financial resources. Mitja Ferenc, a Slovenian historian and member of the commission for addressing hidden mass graves, explained that while Slovenia manages all discovered graves regardless of victim nationality, further exhumations require a new form of Croatian participation and funding.

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Based on the earlier agreement between the two governments, we are arranging all graves, regardless of the nationality of the found victims, but further exhumation would require some new form of participation from the Croatian side.

Ferenc noted that recent meetings with Croatian politicians, including members of parliament Ivan Penava and Stipo Mlinarić Ćipe, with Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, may have created expectations that are difficult to meet. He cautioned that politicians sometimes underestimate the complexity and scale of exhuming thousands of victims compared to the practical challenges faced by experts on the ground.

However, Ferenc expressed optimism that the current coalition government in Slovenia offers improved conditions for their work. He indicated that the issue of financing exhumations is not covered by existing agreements, necessitating a new bilateral arrangement between the two governments. His commission has already requested cost proposals for exhumations, anthropological analyses, and artifact examinations.

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My impression is that at the meeting in Ljubljana on Tuesday, there was perhaps too much expectation on the other side regarding what could be done. Politicians think it is easy to exhume thousands upon thousands of victims; they view it a bit more lightly than the experts on the ground.

One significant site is Tezno, near Maribor, where a mass grave was discovered in an anti-tank ditch during highway construction in 1999. Initial excavations uncovered the remains of 1,179 victims. However, the work stopped despite evidence suggesting that at least 940 meters of the ditch were also filled with remains, potentially containing over 10,000 individuals secretly executed and buried by partisans at the war's end. Ferenc plans further ground-penetrating radar surveys using aerial images from 1945 to identify additional ditches that might contain victims.

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But, my impression is that now, with the new coalition government in Slovenia, conditions for our work are truly better than under previous governments.

Another location of interest for Croatia is Crngrob, near Škofja Loka. Ferenc suggested that Croatian authorities have shown particular interest in this site, which is also believed to hold numerous victims from the post-war period.

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I asked the company that conducts exhumations for us to make a proposal on how much the exhumation, anthropological analysis, and analysis of objects found among the remains would cost.