The last Slovenian Legitimist or the Story of the International Fraudster from Vrh nad Laškim

Alojz Novak’s Dossier in the Archival Material of the First Austrian Republic

Abstract

The article presents the activities of Alojz Novak, a native of Vrh nad Laškim, who in the 1930s posed as a representative of the secret “King Matjaž” organization. The organization was modelled on the Austrian legitimist societies, which recognized Otto of Habsburg as the rightful heir to the imperial throne, while Novak’s organization reputedly advocated an independent Slovenia under the Habsburg scepter. The article is based mainly on material held by the Austrian State Archives or the Archives of the Republic. The Novak file contains mainly police reports and correspondence from the Federal Chancellor’s Office, but also various propaganda material. It also includes the bilingual newspaper Oesterreich. Slovener/Austrijski Slovenec, which Novak published in Germany, but only one issue of which was published.