Ljubljana organised a number of events to mark 9 May, the 60th anniversary of the victory over Fascism and Nazism. On the same day, the Slovenian capital celebrates Peace Day to remember the liberation of the city.
Ljubljana was occupied by Italian forces in April 1941, when a very strict regime was introduced, and then fenced in February 1942. During the war, the 34-km wire cut the city off its surroundings, turning it into a kind of concentration camp.
To remember Ljubljana's destiny under the Fascist regime, the 49th traditional march around Ljubljana will take place from 5 and 7 May, following the track of the barbed wire which surrounded the city during the WWII.
The march was accompanied by traditional walks around the city for school children on 5 and 6 May. A day later, adults and veterans ran 12 and 28-km races along the track in what was the culmination of the festivities.
Other events to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII were taking place around the country; the Kocevje Regional Museum, south-east, was hosting an exhibition on the last two years of the war and the liberation of Kocevje.
Before WWII, this area was settled by a strong German-speaking community for many centuries. The Gottschee community, named after the German word for Kocevje, was relocated by the Nazis to within the borders of the Third Reich in 1941, when the region was handed over to Italian forces.
During WWII, Kocevje was an important strategic region for the protection of the route from Ljubljana via Delnice to Croatia's Kvarner Bay. During the fight between partisans and Italian forces for the region, Kocevje was severely damaged. After the war, most Gottscheers either voluntarily or forcibly emigrated.
Another exhibition on WWII was hosted by the City Gallery of Ljubljana. "In the Storm of WWII" will open on 6 May, featuring records about the international events of the time and works of Slovenian artists made during WWII in prisons and concentration camps.
Among 18 Slovenian artists, works of Vito Globocnik, Stane Kumar, Vlado Lamut, Zoran Music, Nikolaj Omersa, France Ursic, Bruno Vavpotic, Bozo Pengov, Tone Kralj and Ive Subic were put up from the archives of the Ljubljana Museum of Contemporary History.
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