| Part of a series on |
| Aftermath of World War II in Yugoslavia |
|---|
| Main events |
| Massacres |
| Camps |
| Macelj massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Bleiburg repatriations | |
 A cross in Macelj | |
| Location | Macelj, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) |
| Date | May and June 1945 |
| Target | NDH prisoners of war and civilians |
Attack type | Mass executions |
| Deaths | 12,000 (estimated) |
| Perpetrators | Yugoslav Partisans |
The Macelj massacre occurred in May and June 1945, at the end of World War II in Europe, in the forests near Macelj, a village in northern Croatia. At the site, a large number of soldiers, women, and children were shot during the Bleiburg repatriations.[1]
Events
[edit]In 1992, after Croatia became independent, 1,163 bodies were excavated from 23 mass graves in the region, leaving around 130 possible mass grave locations unexplored.[1]
Among those executed in Macelj were 25 Catholic priests from the Franciscan monastery of Široki Brijeg, which were temporarily hidden in nearby Krapina.[2] In 2008, the Croatian Ministry of the Interior launched an investigation into Stjepan Hršak's possible involvement in that event.[2]
Reburial of the exhumed bodies in 2005 was followed by a public mass led by Cardinal Josip Bozanić, at the time Archbishop of Zagreb.[3]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Macelj - gora zločina!". Večernji list (in Croatian). 2012-05-16. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
- ^ a b "Stjepan Hršak: Nisam sudjelovao u likvidaciji 25 svećenika u Macelju" [Stjepan Hršak: I did not take part in liquidation of 25 priests at Macelj]. Jutarnji list (in Croatian). 2008-02-09. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
- ^ "Biskup Gorski o maceljskim žrtvama: 'Nepravda nije ispravljena, ona se obnavlja i raste'". novilist.hr. 7 June 2020.