Everyday Life In Rogaška Slatina and Nearby Area In The Period of German Occupation (1941-1945)

Drawing on primary archival sources, official newspapers of occupying forces, pictorial material, oral testimonies, memoirs and other literature, author is focusing on a specific topic from local history, in which he is researching the everyday life of inhabitants of health-spa resort Rogaška Slatina in the period of Nazi occupation (1941-1945). Rogaška Slatina was occupied by the German Army on April 11, 1941, followed by the process of the occupier's overtaking of municipality administration and complex establishment of a local civil administration, the gradual formation of a repressive government apparatus with the establishment of authorities, denationalisation organizations and associations, and policy levers. Author focuses on selected and most representative aspects of the daily life of the enslaved inhabitants under Nazi rule. During World War II, the residents of Rogaška Slatina, like other inhabitants of Nazi Germany occupied Slovenia, were subjected to a thorough racial and political examination, as well as denationalisation and Germanization measures. They were living under the strict "closing-hour" rule and curfew, at the beginning and in the final phase of the war they were witness (and victims) of air bombings. The limited supply of food and life necessities was strictly controlled and maintained through ration cards. Life in the time of war was made easier for the inhabitants with the help of privileges that many German-occupied towns could not boast of: a spa bath, a cinema and orchestral music in a pavilion in the middle of the spa park, from where echoed the rhythms of Viennese musical classics.