»A Hitlerian nest«: from the history of Šoštanj during the Second World War

Abstract

Drawing on the occupier’s archival materials and postwar literature, the contribution analyses the most important events that took place in Šoštanj and its immediate surroundings (the Šalek Valley) during the Second World War. Whereas the Partisan attack on Šoštanj in 1941 represented one of the pinnacles of the first year into the war, the occupier’s measures all but completely suppressed the National Liberation Movement in the town and the Šalek Valley. Despite occasional Partisan attacks and incursions, Šoštanj remained firmly under the German control until the end of the war, when twice many occupier’s units surrender in Šoštanj’s immediate vicinity. The history of Šoštanj is also inextricably linked to the fate of the Woschnagg family, the owner of the local leather factory, which suffered persecution by the occupier during the war and the communist regime in the postwar period.