This article is about the 1947–1949 trials held in Slovenia. For the 1945–1947 trials held in Germany, see
Dachau trials.
The Dachau trials (
Slovene: Dachauski procesi[1]) were a group of
show trials held between 1947 and 1949 in
FPR Yugoslavia, mostly in
PR Slovenia. The name refers to the fact that 31 of the defendants had been prisoners at the
Dachau concentration camp.[2] Thirty seven people were sentenced, 15 of them to death, 10 of whom were executed. All sentences were reversed in April 1986.
Background and procedure
The trials marked a departure from previous communist show trials in Slovenia such as the
Nagode Trial because until this point the authorities had sought enemies outside the Communist Party, among the non-proletariat and the non-communist intelligentsia. By selecting enemies from the ranks of the Communist Party, a Yugoslav version of the
Stalinist show trials was launched.[2]
In the preparations for the trials, a large number of writers, physicians, politicians, and engineers were arrested without knowing whether they would be accused or merely used as witnesses.[3] Those arrested were tortured and deprived of their legal rights.[2][3] Forged documents were prepared as evidence against them and false testimony was prepared.[3]
The defendants in the trials were forced to confess to being Nazi spies while imprisoned at the Dachau concentration camp, collaborating with the Gestapo, and working for Western powers after the Second World War in order to undermine socialism.[4][5][6] The proceedings were broadcast to the public via special loudspeakers on the streets.[3] Most of the defendants were shot immediately after being condemned to death, and others were sent to the
Goli Otok prison camp.[5] The total number of people executed, the specific dates when they were killed, and where their bodies were disposed of remains unknown.[6] Some are believed to lie in the forest near
Kočevje, and others in Ljubljana's
Žale cemetery.[2]
Investigators: Lieutenant Colonel Ivan More (a.k.a. Žan; head), Kamilo Hilbert, Branko Ivanuš, Nace Majcen, Martin Renko, Franc Pirkovič, Karlo Sagadin, Rado Škraba, Aleks Winkler.
Notes
^
abIvanič, Martin. 1988. Dachauski procesi. Enciklopedija Slovenije, vol. 2, p. 167. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga.
^
abcdefghijklmnopqRepe, Božo. 1999. Politični sodni proces. Enciklopedija Slovenije, vol. 9, pp. 94–99. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, p. 98.
^Job, Cvijeto. 2002. Yugoslavia's Ruin: The Bloody Lessons of Nationalism, a Patriot's Warning. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, p. 44.
^
abLenin, Vladimir Ilʹich (ed. Slavoj Žižek). 2002. Revolution at the Gates: A Selection of Writings from February to October 1917. London: Verso, p. 330.
^
abcdefLuthar, Oto (ed.). 2002. The Land Between: A History of Slovenia. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, pp. 453–454.