On the occasion of the 82nd anniversary of the so-called Battle of Dražgoše (which, in fact, never happened), the annual “red celebration” took place on Sunday, and this time, it was “spiced up” by a speech by MEP Matjaž Nemec (Social democrats – SD). Of course, Milan Kučan was also among those gathered at the celebration.
However, the evening before, in the local parish church – completely separate from Sunday’s event – a mass was held for the killed villagers and all those who died in the wars, especially those from January 1942 in Dražgoše.
In his speech, MEP Matjaž Nemec said that the Dražgoše Mountains timelessly echo the lessons we are obliged to listen to, and added that we remember with great respect the courage of the Cankar’s Battalion, which inflicted painful defeats on the enemy and showed unwavering determination in the fight for the liberation of the Slovenian nation. What followed was a fierce revenge of the German army, inflicted on the locals. Forty-one people died, and the village was burnt down, “the resistance in Gorenjski vrh, culminating in the Battle of Dražgoše, is today considered one of the most important acts of the resistance movement in the Nazi-occupied territories in 1941,” MEP Nemec pointed out. The message of Dražgoše, he stressed, is the resistance that was not silenced even by the machine guns of the enemy, and the truth that freedom is not a given, but something we need to fight for. “On the basis of freedom, we were able to build a post-war Europe founded on the values of anti-fascism and anti-Nazism,” he said, urging everyone that we must fight together for these values even today and resolutely oppose those who seek to drag the world back onto the path of evil.
MEP Nemec urged Slovenian authorities to join the lawsuit against Israel for genocide against Palestinians
MEP Nemec also touched on what is happening in Gaza, describing it as an attempt by the occupier to destroy a nation, and wondered how much longer Europe and the world will continue to watch the erasure of a nation happen before our eyes, without doing anything to stop it. He also believes that Slovenia must continue to work resolutely for a peace process leading to the recognition of an independent Palestine. At the same time, he said, it is Slovenia’s responsibility, as it joined Ukraine’s legal action against Russia due to its aggression against Ukraine, to now join South Africa’s action and its lawsuit against Israel, because the war in Gaza is genocide.
MEP Nemec wants Europe without the right
He also touched on the forthcoming elections to the European Parliament, when the question of what kind of Europe we want will be decided once again. “Is it a Europe in which fascist movements and other far-right currents are gaining ground, or will it be a Europe of solidarity, green, innovative, safe and democratic Europe that will leave no one behind?” he said. “The great challenges we are facing require us to be resolute, and to not compromise, when it comes to people’s social security, to their health, to the environment, to respect for the rule of law and to the well-being of all of us,” he concluded, urging those present to vote for him in the June elections.
On the show Utrip, Možina revealed the whole truth about the defeat and tragedy of the village, based on the testimonies of the Dražgoše people and documents
In light of the above, we should once again remember last year’s episode of the show Utrip (Pulce), which greatly upset the left. Television show host Jože Možina exposed the misery of the authorities and the foundations from which they were built. He exposed the left’s cultural essence, which is sadly mirrored every year in Dražgoše, its incompetence, mirrored by the situation in the healthcare service, and the media loyal to it, which faithfully covers up or relativises the slip-ups of the transitional left. “There are times when the sky is obscured by clouds or birds. Often it is darkened by difficult thoughts or actions that take us back to a criminal past where we really do not want to go in our right minds. But who says there is sanity in the air? Rather, we see the farce of failed socialism,” began the journalist from the national media outlet Radio-Television Slovenia (RTVS).
For the narrow elite, truth is a matter of agreement
The celebration in Dražgoše is an event where those gathered recall the myth that was woven around the unfortunate village in the post-war years, where the truth is a footnote or something pliable, something that can be easily agreed upon. It is similar to the so-called ‘negotiated economy’, which allows the participants in the rally to buy prestigious cars. The truth about Dražgoše, that innocent victims of the partisans’ foolish decisions are buried under a monument in the village, is being left out of this.
The television show host also reminded us of the tragic words of the descendants of the Revolution. For example, the young MP Lenart Žavbi from the Freedom Movement party (Gibanje Svoboda) who, in line with his family pedigree, called against reconciliation with “neo-fascists” and “neo-Nazis”, as he calls his political opponents, in line with the maxim that truth is something negotiable, something bendable. “The less they know, the more militant and anti-legal they are”, pointed out the RTV journalist.
“After 82 years, it is time to stop distorting history and honour the dead, instead of politically exploiting them,” Možina pointed out.
Sara Kovač
