Brezovica pri Borovnici

Brezovica pri Borovnici (pronounced [ˈbɾéːzɔʋitsa pɾi bɔɾɔwˈnìːtsi]; German: Bresowitz[2]) is a settlement south of Borovnica in the Inner Carniola region of Slovenia.[3] The settlement includes the hamlets of Kapitov Grič, Prod, and Vrbljene.[4]

Brezovica pri Borovnici
Brezovica pri Borovnici
Location in Slovenia
Coordinates: 45°54′9.45″N 14°23′11.91″E
Country Slovenia
Traditional regionInner Carniola
Statistical regionCentral Slovenia
MunicipalityBorovnica
Area
 • Total11.37 km2 (4.39 sq mi)
Elevation
312.3 m (1,024.6 ft)
Population
 (2002)
 • Total260
[1]

Geography

Brezovica is a clustered village at the southeast end of the Borovnica Valley. It lies along Prušnica Creek and its tributaries: Šumik Creek, which flows from below Krimšček Hill (941 m), and Izber Creek. The soil is sandy and partially loamy.[4]

Name

The name of the settlement was changed from Brezovica to Brezovica pri Borovnici (literally, 'Brezovica near Borovnica') in 1955.[5] The name Brezovica and names like it are relatively common in Slovenia and in other Slavic countries (e.g., Březovice in the Czech Republic, Brezovica in Serbia, etc.). The name Brezovica is derived from the word breza 'birch'. Like similar toponyms in Slovenia (e.g., Brezova, Brezovec, Brezovci), it originally referred to the local vegetation.[6] In the past the German name was Bresowitz.[2]

History

In 1884, Brezovica had a population of 180 people living in 29 houses.[7] The population remained relatively stable for decades, with 173 people in 32 houses in 1900,[2] and 181 people in 28 houses in 1961.[4]

In 1942, the regional committee of the Communist Party of Slovenia took up positions in a bunker along Šumnik Creek north of Brezovica pri Borovnici. The bunker was attacked by Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia forces on December 14, 1942.[8]

Mass grave
Cave perimeter
Cave mouth
Krim Cave Mass Grave

Brezovica pri Borovnici is the site of a mass grave associated with the Second World War. The Krim Cave Mass Grave (Slovene: Grobišče Krimska jama) lies in the woods south of the settlement. It contains the remains of an unknown number of Slovene civilians from neighboring villages murdered by a battalion of the Partisan Krim Detachment in 1942.[9] Some sources estimate the number of victims to be around 300.[10] The cave was used during the war by the Partisan Ljubo Šercer Battalion[11] to dispose of other victims liquidated by the Partisans.[12] It was investigated by Home Guard forces on 9 September 1942, and again with a journalist and a photographer on 23 March 1945, confirming the presence of human remains in the cave.[13][14] After the war, the entrance to the cave was dynamited in 1947, and again in September 1948.[13]

  • Main settlement and hamlet of Prod
  • Hamlet of Vrbljene

References
  1. Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
  2. Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru, vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 116.
  3. Borovnica municipal site
  4. Savnik, Roman, ed. 1968. Krajevni leksikon Slovenije, vol. 1. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, p. 449.
  5. Spremembe naselij 1948–95. 1996. Database. Ljubljana: Geografski inštitut ZRC SAZU, DZS.
  6. Snoj, Marko. 2009. Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen. Ljubljana: Modrijan and Založba ZRC, p. 80.
  7. Special.Orts-Reportorium von Krain. 1884. Vienna: Alfred Hölder, p. 66.
  8. Jakopič, Albert, & Franc Benedik. 1968. Vodnik po partizanskih poteh. Ljubljana: Borec, p. 323.
  9. Ferenc, Mitja (December 2009). "Grobišče Krimska jama". Geopedia (in Slovenian). Ljubljana: Služba za vojna grobišča, Ministrstvo za delo, družino in socialne zadeve. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  10. Javornik, Mirko. 1944. Črne bukve: o delu komunistične osvobodilne fronte proti slovenskemu narodu. Ljubljana: Slovenski dom, p. 69.
  11. Debevec, Damjan. "O pietetni ureditvi množičnega grobišča Krimska jama." (in Slovene)
  12. "Rešenci z vlaka in Krimska jama." Zaveza (25 June 2012) Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine (in Slovene)
  13. "Krimska jama – simbol revolucije." Zaveza 25 (15 June 2011). Archived June 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine (in Slovene)
  14. "Krimska jama." (maps, photos) (in Slovene)
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