1Title: “Slovenec sem… tako je mati djala,” (I am a Slovene… so my mother told me)

2Originally published: Tolminski glas (winter 1944/spring 1945)

3Language: Slovene

4The excerpts used are from the original publication.

Context

5The collaboration with the Axis occupation forces in Slovenia is a complex issue. Its roots can be traced back to the radicalization of Slovenian conservative and right-wing political Catholicism in the decade prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. The clergy had an important role in the formation of the first counter-guerrilla units in the summer of 1942. These were soon identified by the Italian occupation authorities as potential allies in the fight against the Communist-led partisan insurgence and reorganized as a Voluntary Anti-Communist Militia (Milizia Volontaria Anticomunista, MVAC) under Italian military command. Catholic integralist groups, dating back to the early 1930s, assumed key positions within this formation, which existed until the