Dražgoše ceremony marked by appeal to fight neoliberal capitalism
The head of the TRS Movement for Slovenia's Sustainable Development spoke of the importance of the battle, in which the Slovenian Partisans resisted a much larger and better equipped German army, for Slovenia's confidence and thereby for the country's later independence.
While protesting against continuing attempts to rehabilitate the Slovenian Domobranci militias, which collaborated with the occupying forces, Janković said "the time is ripe to put an end to ideological divisions and focus on the present, which does not have a bright outlook".
She called on workers and all who are exploited to take to the streets and fight for the rights that have been taken away from them unfairly.
"Today our enemy does not carry arms, he is more subtle, evil, wears a tie and a hypocritical smile, exerts pressure on us, spreads fear to turns us into listless modern slaves," Jankovič told the commemoration, which is the culmination of several hikes along the Partisan routes on the Jelovica hill in the region of Gorenjsko.
Several thousand people attended the ceremony again this year, among them President Borut Pahor, coalition SocDems president Dejan Židan, Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec, Interior Minister Vesna Györkös Žnidar and Labour Minister Anja Kopač Mrak.
One of the biggest WWII battles in Slovenia, the battle of Dražgoše was fought between 200 Partisan fighters and 2,000 German soldiers from 9 to 12 January 1942 at 30 degrees below zero and in deep snow.
After three days, German troops retreated having lost over a hundred soldiers by some accounts. Only 9 victims were recorded among the Partisans. But the Germans took revenge on the local population, killing 41 of them and completely destroying the village.