Highlights – April 2009

Discovery of mass burial place in mineshaft at Huda jama in Laško

In the beginning of March the Slovene public was greatly shocked by the discovery of a mass burial place in the mineshaft of St. Barbara at Huda jama in Laško dating from the time of the Second World War. An investigation had begun last year in August, because the location was on a governmental commission’s list of suspected secret burial places. Since then officials have been removing concrete barriers and road metal, which had been concealing the burial site. The head of the agency in charge of war burial places, Marko Štrovs estimated, that from 200 to 300 corpses in a third mineshaft were those, for which there had not been enough space in two other mineshafts, each with more than 100 corpses. The discovered corpses are without visible signs of gunshot wounds, so it is presumed, that the victims died from being gased or suffocated. There is an ongoing investigation as to the identity of the victims, but, according to some statements, they might be Slovenes from Teharje camp in the vicinity of the German and Croatian prison camps. The remains will be transferred to the Teharje ossuary after the forensic and medical analyses are completed. The holy mass for the homocide victims in this mineshaft, celebrated by the archbishop msgr. Anton Stres from Maribor, was held on a quiet Sunday on the 29th of March, in the archparish church of St. Martin in Laško.


THE TOPIC OF THE MONTH : Red coloured Easter egg – love afire!

In the words of Dušica Kunaver, the Slovene coloured Easter eggs number among the most beautiful examples of European Easter eggs. Each province has a special name, distinctive motifs and particular methods for making them. In Carinthia they are called »pisánke«, in Styria »pisanke«, in the region of Eastern Slovenia (Prekmurje) and Porabje »reménke« or »remenice«; in White Carniola »pisanice«; in Venetian Slovenia »pierha«. Easter eggs from Brkini and Adlešiči and »drsanke« (slid eggs) from White Carniola have been known for centuries and the secrets of making them are passed down from generation to generation. The ethnologic collection of decorated Easter eggs has been expanded by new methods of production too, including the piercing of the eggshell, a characteristic of Easter eggs from Vrhnika.

A PRESENTATION : Professor Franc Copf

Professor Franc Copf, a seasoned orthopedic surgeon, began his professional in Maribor, in general and plastic surgery. From there he went to Switzerland in 1965. As early as 1962 the American Ford Foundation offered him a scholarship for the study of surgery in Detroit, which he could not then accept due to the opposition of the government in power at that time. In Switzerland first he was employed in Grenchen at Basel and then in Zürich-Uznach. In 1967 he became the head of a private clinic in St. Moritz and at the same time the supervising doctor of the regional hospital in Samedan. In his academic career professor Franc Copf devoted most of his professional attention to orthopedics, particularly to issues with hip and finger joints.

A TALK WITH A SUCCESSFUL FELLOW COUNTRYMAN : Boris Kambič

In San Carlos de Bariloche, a small town below the Andes, an active contemporary Slovene community numbers about 250 Slovenes. Some of them are famous – for their ice-skating, mountain – climbing and skiing expertise. Proving once again that Slovenes are indeed at the top of alpine nations. Many peaks in the Andes were named by the Slovene alpinists, that first came to the Andes at the end of the 50s in the last century. »I think, that we, Slovenes, have a longing for mountains and the hunt for new trails is in our blood and the memory of our mountains keeps us going, we’re always searching for similarities with or differences from our own mountains«, according to Boris Kambič, himself an acknowledged alpinist and board member of the Slovene Alpine society Bariloche.

AK

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