NEWS

Prime Minister Pahor and President of the Slovenian Bishop’s Conference Monsignor Dr Anton Stres pay respects to victims of post-war violence in Huda Jama and to victims of Nazi violence at Stari Pisker in Celje

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, and the Archbishop of Ljubljana and Slovenian Metropolitain and President of the Slovenian Bishop’s Conference, Monsignor Dr Alojz Stres, today paid their respects to the victims of post-war violence in the Barbara pit of the Huda Jama Mine near Laško and to the victims of Nazi violence at Stari Pisker in Celje.

   

In his statement to the press, Prime Minister Pahor said that every time we witness new disclosures of war and post-war tragedies, we are more morally shocked which proves our maturing as a nation.   "By becoming more mature as a nation and a state, the Slovenes have also become more mature to perceive tragedies that happened during the Second World War and after it," stressed Prime Minister Pahor.   After witnessing disclosures of horrible things that happened during the War and after it, we have also become much more sensitive and sensible with respect to them.  Moreover, we wish to be "confronted with this memory and place it in an appropriate and respectful way in our historical consciousness." The task of the state is to ensure a respectful burial of the corpses in Huda Jama.   How this will be done has not yet been decided, "but we will perform it at a moral standard level that will best correspond to the respectful attitude of the state toward the people whose lives had tragically ended there. " In this way we will contribute to the maturing of our general attitude towards the good and just. What happened cannot be repaired, history cannot be changed, we can only learn something from it. "Everything that throws a dark shadow on our history, will be a warning against the temptation to be driven again to similar actions in the future," added Prime Minister Pahor.

    

The ceremony was also attended by the Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, Dr Ivan Svetlik, and the Bishop of Celje, Monsignor Dr Stanislav Lipovšek.