. NMT04-T0892
Volume IV · Page 892
| [pur…] pose. The first deportations
which were carried out from the so-called territory of Lower Styria in 1941
immediately after the campaign against Yugoslavia, were carried out for purely
political reasons mainly, and almost exclusively. It applied to Slovenes who
emigrated to Yugoslavia during the first years after the First World War. In
other words, people who did not live there before. These people were resettled
in Croatia or Serbia. Then there was a second resettlement in the same area, in
Lower Styria, which was carried out within the framework of the resettlement of
ethnic Germans from Gottschee; this resettlement took place in the most
southern tip of lower Styria. Then in the territory of upper Carniola, two main
resettlements were carried out, apart from the smaller measures. One of them
was for political security reasons and took place in 1942. The Higher SS and
Police Leader there directed this measure to be carried out in an area which
extended to fifteen kilometers near Laibach, because he thought he would be
able to stop the crossing of partisans from Italian territory to German
territory. This resettlement was discontinued due to the intervention of
several agencies. Then a resettlement of Slovenes took place, within the same
area, which comprised the members and relatives of partisans who had either
been killed in the struggle against the partisans or who had been killed in
connection with partisan action or people who had been sent to concentration
camps. Those for the most part were the resettlement measures which were
carried out in those areas. Q. Did the Staff Main Office participate in these acts against the Slovenes? A. The Staff Main Office participated in the second procedure which was the deportation of Slovenes in connection with the resettlement of Gottschee Germans, and the local representatives of the Reich Commissioner for the Strengthening of Germanism participated in the resettlement measures in Upper Carniola, in connection with deporting the members of families of partisans mentioned before. Q. Did they also participate in deportations concerning Carinthia, Austria. A. In the so-called former territories of Upper Carniola, which were former German territories, a number of — Q. Witness, my question was: Did the Staff Main Office participate? Yes or no is the answer. A. Well, I can't tell you. I couldn't tell you that for certain. Q. What happened to the Slovenes who were deported? A. The Slovenes who had been deported to Germany were |
