Bled under German occupation during the Second World War (1941–1945)

Abstract

During the Second World War, the Germans seized Upper Carniola, Carinthia, and Styria, using the pre-war cosmopolitan resort town of Bled as the administrative centre of the occupied Upper Carniola and Carinthia, and for the wartime deployment of security and (para)military units and organizations. Whereas the German garrison at Bled was initially composed of officials, functionaries, and members of headquarters units, the authorities later also moved there some of the police and (para)military units that engaged in operations against the Slovenian partisans in the immediate vicinity. Owing to many hotels, villas, and other facilities, the lake town also developed into a health resort where the occupier’s soldiers and police officers were sent for treatment and recovery. Although the Bled garrison was occasionally a target of partisan diversionary attacks, the town remained under firm German control until the end of the Second World War.