 Sept 14 2024 - Feb 1 2025

 Pivka

An exhibition on Allied bombings in present-day Slovenia during the Second World War that aimed to defeat Nazi Germany is on display at the Park of Military History in Pivka in the southwest of the country.

Titled Slovenia under a Hail of Bombs - Allied Bombing of Slovenia 1944-1945, the exhibition presents strategic and tactical bombings and the types of aircraft and bombs used, and shows historical footage of the bombings and devastated cities.

It also features stories of Allied pilots and displays several aerial bombs, as well as media coverage of the unexploded bombs that were found by chance in Slovenia and abroad in recent years.

A painting mimicking Guernica, the 1937 masterpiece by Pablo Picasso that symbolises the destruction caused by bombing, made by a thirteen-year-old boy a few years ago is also on display.

The exhibition has been prepared by Sašo Radovanovič, a historian who has researched the Allied bombings in archives in Slovenia and abroad for the past few years, first focusing on his native Maribor.

The author of the exhibition says that Allied bombings present "living heritage", as an estimated 10 to 20% of the dropped bombs did not explode and remain below the surface, posing a risk.