Sunday 5 September 2021

11.1942 370.Kroat.Inf.Rgt -369.Kroat.Inf.Div. to Riegelsdorf (Rigonce near Dobova , Slovenia)

 


 


 28.11.1942 Feldpost card mailed from Wien by a member od 369.Kroat.Inf.Div who notes his Fp.23274 - 14.Kompanie Kroat. Infanterie-Regiment 370. 369.division was training at the time in Döllersheim. Text is in Croatian and  there is nothing interesting in message itself, a soldier writes to his uncle(Dragi Tetak -Dear Uncle),that he was in hospital in Wien and is about to return to his unit, but whole card and location of  a recipient is very interesting.

Rigonce(Riegelsdorf) near Dobova is a village in Slovenia right on the border with Croatia. When Slovenia was divided between Germany and Italy in April 1941 , an German enclave was present in Italian part, in the area called Gottschee(German) or Kočevje(Slovenian). Germans decided to resettle Germans form Gottschee to their part of Slovenia (then a part of the Reich) to an area called Rann(slov.Brežice) triangle. This is an area between Sutla and Sava river around Brežice(Rann)  In November 1941 Germans deported all Slovenians (46.000 people) from Rann/Brežice trialngle(Ranner Dreieck) to Germany and resettled Gottscheers there.

This feldpost card from late 1942 was mailed from Croatian soldier training in Reich to his family in Rann triangle who are  resettled Gottschee Germans , and this is the first such letter i have seen.

After the war Gottscheers were evicted to Germany and Slovenians that survived the war in German labour camps in Saxony returned home, both groups suffered immensely in the War.

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