Three fallen partisans were laid to rest in the cemetery in Žrelec / Ebenthal. The large gravestone (200 cm wide, 100 cm high) is inscripted in both regional languages:
Friderik Karule / Unknown Slovenian partisans
Victims of Fascism - two men from Poland / M. Matuszewski / Aleks Lepihski
Friderik Karule, born on 6 January 1921 in Šentrupert pri Celovcu / St. Ruprecht bei Klagenfurt, and the two unidentified partisans, both Slovenes from primorska, were killed in action with the Nazis on 17 September 1944 near Žrelec / Ebenthal. All three were originally buried outside the cemetery wall, as were the two murdered Poles. It was only after the end of the war that all five were buried in the cemetery in a common grave. The organisation "Black Cross", which takes care of the graves of fallen soldiers, erected three wrought-iron crosses with inscriptions:
Matuschewski 14. 10. 1942, Alex Lipinski 30. 4. 1943,
Friedrich Karule 17. 9. 1944 and two unknown soldiers.
The details of the deaths of the two Poles are known: Matuszewski and Lepinski were employed here as forced labourers. Probably for unspecified offences against the State, they were hanged (on 30 April 1943) without having been brought to trial. The deaths of both men are recorded in the death register of the parish of Žrelec / Ebenthal. Lepihský is credited with the remark that he was hanged "for attempted treacherous murder?". The question mark at the end of the sentence is telling enough. However, none of the perpetrators of this crime against the Poles was prosecuted or punished.
It should be mentioned, however, that the memorial to the fallen Slovenian partisans and the two Poles in Žrelec/Ebenthal has been desecrated (covered with black oil paint) on several occasions, but the local police are apparently unwilling or unable to identify the perpetrators.
Collection camp for deportees
Žrelec / Ebenthal holds historical significance for the Carinthian Slovenians and is located below Radiše / Radsberg. On April 14 and 15, 1942, the Nazis established a camp there, where they gathered and registered over a thousand Carinthian Slovenians before deporting them to various camps within the Reich. According to the dictum of the Carinthian Nazis at the time, the expulsion of conscious Slovenian families was to solve the so-called Carinthian question once and for all. The armed partisan resistance provided the answer...
34 children were born in exile, 84 exiles were transported to concentration camps, 108 were mobilised in the German army, and 101 exiles became victims of German violence.
Location:
Žrelec / Ebenthal is a municipality located at the foot of the northern slopes of the Eastern gure / Sattnitzgebirge, southeast of Celovec / Klagenfurt.