Laibach Province
The province of Laibach ( Italian : Provincia di Lubiana , Slovenian : Ljubljanska pokrajina ) existed during the Second World War as an Italian province on the territory of occupied Yugoslavia from 1941 to 1945, from 1943 under German control.
The province of Ljubljana encompassed part of Slovenia , namely Inner Carniola (within the Yugoslav pre-war borders), most of Lower Carniola and Ljubljana and its surroundings (up to the Sava River ).
The area occupied by the Italian army in April 1941 was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy on May 3, 1941, which was reported in most of the newspapers of the leading Slovenian parties (Slovenian People's Party, Liberal Party), in particular in Slovenec ("the Slovene") and Jutro ( "The morning"), was officially welcomed.
On May 17, 1941, Benito Mussolini convened an advisory committee made up of representatives from the Slovenian economy and politics. However, the body had no real say in relation to the Italian administration.
Unlike the Germans, the Italians allowed Slovenian cultural life and administrative structures to a certain extent, such as the university , the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts , schools, theaters and courts. The Slovenes were not drafted into the Italian army.
For this reason, between April and June 1941, tens of thousands of Slovenes from the German-controlled areas ( CdZ area Carinthia and Krain and CdZ area Lower Styria ), where the Slovenes were also forced to serve in the Wehrmacht , sought refuge in the Italian province of Ljubljana.
The administration was bilingual, Italian was a compulsory subject in schools, but the Slovene language lessons were otherwise maintained. The fascists also built organizational structures in the province to consolidate their influence on the population.
Unlike other Italian provinces, the province of Ljubljana was ruled by a high commissioner (Alto Commissario provinciale) appointed by the government in Rome , who had more powers than the prefects (prefetti) of the other provinces. The first high commissioner was Emilio Grazioli .
In May 1941 the following five districts (distretti) were created:
- Lubiana (Laibach) - provincial capital, in the northwest of the province, 91,600 inhabitants
- Longatico - in the west of the province, 24,700 inhabitants
- Cocevie (Gottschee) - in the south of the province, comprised predominantly German-speaking residents ( Gottscheer ), most of whom were evacuated in 1941, so that there were only very few residents
- Cernomeli - in the southeast of the province, 29,800 inhabitants
- Novo mesto - in the northeast of the province, 81,400 inhabitants
The districts were headed by district commissioners (Commissari distrettuali) , mostly native Slovenes, corresponding to the sub-prefects (sottoprefetti) in other provinces.
Cooperation with the occupying power was largely rejected by the Slovene population. This was shown in the strong support for the partisans of the "Liberation Front" ( Osvobodilna fronta ) . The rise of the partisan movement was followed by an increase in repression by the Italian occupying forces.
After the capitulation of Italy in September 1943, the province was occupied by the German Wehrmacht . The Germans took over the administrative structure and - unlike in northern Slovenia - still allowed the Slovenian language. The province remained formally with Italy, but was de facto completely under German control as part of the Adriatic Coastal Operation Zone . The German Reich Defense Commissioner of the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral Friedrich Rainer entrusted the former Yugoslav General and as the Italians Ljubljana Mayor used Leon Rupnik with the civil administration of the province of Ljubljana, but the head of the police staff, SS General Erwin Rösener , and Hermann Doujak , Friedrich Rainer's political Advisers for the province of Laibach, exercised the actual rule.
After the victory of the partisans, the province of Ljubljana was finally dissolved on May 9, 1945.
literature
- Michael Wedekind: National Socialist Occupation and Annexation Policy in Northern Italy 1943 to 1945. The operational zones “Alpine Foreland” and “Adriatic Coastal Land” (= Military History Studies, Volume 38). R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-486-56650-4 .
- Amedeo Osti Guerrazzi: “Relentless action against the malevolent enemy”. Italian warfare and occupation practice in Slovenia. Vfz 4/2014.
- Klaus Schmieder: Partisan War in Yugoslavia 1941–1944. Hamburg u. a. 2002.