STA, 28 July 2022 - The wildfire that raged across Kras in the past two weeks proved to be extraordinarily challenging because the area is littered with thousands of explosive devices from World War I, which may detonate when subjected to extreme heat. Over 500 devices have gone off during the fire which has since been extinguished, but the area remains dangerous.

Experts estimate that the site of the Isonzo Front in World War I remains littered with about 70 kilos of unexploded explosive ordnance (UXO) per square metre [sic].

The wildfire spread across a surface area of 3,500 hectares located on what used to be the Italian-Austrian border in the early 20th century and the site of many World War I battles between the two countries.

The fire detonated hundreds of devices, posing an extraordinary risk for thousands of firefighters who battled the blaze. "Luckily, the explosions took place where we predicted, in the zones we mapped out," Darko Zonjič, the commander of Slovenia's special UXO unit, told the STA.

"The most important thing was that firefighters followed our safety instructions, otherwise there could have been a catastrophe," he said, adding that there had been some "close calls", but luckily nobody had been hurt.

The UXO unit has only just started their work of removing the unexploded ordnance and found over 250 devices weighing a total of 1.4 tonnes. "But we are far from over. Only when the fire is extinguished completely and we will be able to access the burnt down areas, a realistic picture will begin to emerge."

Movement across burnt down areas becomes somewhat safer after the fire had been extinguished for over 48 hours. "But there are still hot spots where explosions can occur. Therefore we are warning that walking across fire sites is still dangerous."

The UXO unit members are continuing their inspection of outer edges of the burnt areas. The majority of ordnance they found so far were Italian and Austrian 75-millimetre cannon grenades, followed by Austrian 100-millimetre grenades.

"We have not yet found 150-millimetre grenades, but we expect to find them at the centre of the fire site under the Veliki Vrh peak. So far we have inspected only a fraction of the burnt area," Zonjič said.

Very big calibre UXO are mostly underground and will only detonate in case of fire, when temperature reaches about 300 degrees Celsius, he added.

Some of the grenades were found in heaps, likely piled together by metal collectors after the war. "They took brass of the grenades, having known already back then which were dangerous and which weren't.

"Mostly these are individual grenades which had not exploded after launch. If these missiles... are not moved they don't go off, that is why we haven't had an accident like this in a long time."

The missiles become dangerous during fires or when untrained individuals start playing with them. People are advised not to move UXO but report their location to the relevant services instead.

Here's a video for those interested in Slovenian history and the Slovenian language. It's a documentary produced by the Ministry of Defence (Ministrstvo za obrambo) in 2014, which makes use of photos and film from the years in question to bring the story alive. Anyone learning the language will be pleased to know that it's presented in clear Slovenian, with reliable subtitles.

More posts on Slovenian history, and more dual texts in Slovene and English.

STA, 23 July 2019 - This year's traditional memorial ceremony at the Russian Chapel (Ruska kapela) under the Vršič Pass, which honours Russian POWs killed during WWI, will be focused on the post-war period. It is expected to be attended by several thousand people, including high-profile guests from Russia, the organisers have announced.

Taking place on Saturday, the ceremony marking the 103rd anniversary of the construction of the Russian Orthodox chapel will see the keynote address by parliamentary Speaker Dejan Židan as the honorary sponsor of the event.

Addressing the ceremony in front of the chapel built by Russian POWs engaged in forced labour in the area during WWI will also be Ljubljana University Chancellor Igor Papič, as this year's event is connected with the 100th anniversary of the university.

It was Russian immigrants who helped establish the university one hundred years ago, the organisers noted at a press conference in Ljubljana on Tuesday.

The ceremony will be attended by official delegations of the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church, the former headed by Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Konstantin Noskov.

The memorial mass will meanwhile be celebrated by Bishop Siluan, the rector of the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy.

The organisers announced that the road between Kranjska Gora and the chapel under the highest pass in Slovenia will be closed, with free bus rides organised for visitors.

After the ceremony, which will start at 10am, a traditional meeting of members of the Slovenia-Russia Association will be held in Kranjska Gora, and several other events will be held, including in Ljubljana.

On Friday, a concert of the Russian jazz band Vadim Eilenkrig Quartet will be held in Ljubljana's Congress Square, while the mixed choir of the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy will perform in the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation on Sunday.

Urban Ocvirk of the Slovenia-Russia Association said that they wanted to give this year's ceremony a positive note and focus on the post-war period.

"The emphasis is on putting all the accumulated hatred, suffering and conflicts aside and transforming it into remembrance, reverence, into a possibility of creating something new in the dialogue between cultures, nations, people."

According to Ocvirk, the post-war period was ground-breaking time for people who needed to again find humaneness in themselves, which is why the ceremony should not only mark the tragedy of Russian soldiers.

"In more than 100 years, the chapel has developed into a legend, being transformed from a symbol of war and victims of injustices into a symbol of peace and the friendly relations between the Russian and Slovenian nations," added the association's president Ivan Geržina.

Russian Ambassador Doku Zavgayev said at the conference that the Slovenian-Russian relations had been progressing in various fields.

Zavgayev noted that Russia had recently donated to Slovenia a monument honouring Slovenian translator Davorin Hostnik, who compiled the first Russian-Slovenian dictionary. It was unveiled in his native Šmarje pri Jelšah at the end of May.

STA, 13 November 2018 - The first edition of a database of the military victims of the First World War coming from the territory of present-day Slovenia has been finalised, featuring the names of 26,224 people who were either killed or went missing in the WWI campaigns.

The project, launched in the spring of 2015 and coordinated by the Institute of Contemporary History, involved 16 organisations and individuals from entire Slovenia.

The database was presented on Tuesday, with President Borut Pahor saying at the presentation that it was not a final list, as a number of relevant documents have not been examined yet and or were not available any more.

Historians have estimated that once the project is finalised, the number of victims in the database could approach the current general estimate of between 36,000 and 40,000 soldiers from the territory of present-day Slovenia.

The database, which will continue to be updated, is a product of the extensive volunteer work by researchers, museologists and others who had collected, prepared and processed the data for the period between 28 July 1914 and 4 November 1918.

The database is available here, although only in Slovene at the moment, and an analysis of certain data will also be published soon.

According to Mihael Ojsteršek of the Institute of Contemporary History, the biggest number of victims were born in 1895 or 1896. The youngest victims were born in 1902, and the oldest in 1858. The bloodiest year of the war was 1915.

The database, which was launched to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, also looks to promote the sources of data from the war and encourage research work about the period.

On the anniversary, commemorative coins with the nominal value of three euro was also issued in Slovenia, available in the units of the DBS and NKBM banks and the Banka Slovenije central bank.

STA, 11 November 2018 - President Borut Pahor stressed that Sunday's central commemoration marking the end of World War One in Paris celebrates a commitment of states and world leaders to peace. "We want to enhance our common efforts towards this fundamental value," he was quoted by his office as saying.

Pahor added that "there is nothing nobler than our political mission to secure that this and future generations live in safety and peace".

He is in Paris with some 80 world leaders upon the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as the US and Russian presidents, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

The president is also taking part in the Paris Peace Forum, which is debating the world order, its goals and possible changes, according to Pahor's office.

Ob Slavoloku zmage v Parizu poteka osrednja slovesnost ob 100. obletnici konca 1. svetovne vojne. #CentenaireArmistice #armistice100 pic.twitter.com/fKAnfi8JeI

— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) November 11, 2018

The forum, organised by France to strengthen multilateralism, was opened by Macron, and also addressed by Merkel and UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres.

Pahor sees it as an attempt to see if countries themselves and in collaboration with one another do everything to secure a lasting peace and strengthen values such as mutual respect, consideration, tolerance and solidarity, as well as renouncing threats and hate speech.

"We wish for the memory of war atrocities not to fade away as time passes by. It is people who decide on peace or war. No action in favour of peace and enhanced mutual understanding and cooperation is superfluous," said Pahor.

The world leaders taking part in the forum were invited to donate a book which in their view brings a message of peace to the Peace Library.

Pahor will donate I Saw Her That Night, Drago Jančar's award-winning novel which was among many accolades it has received declared in France the best novel by a foreign writer in 2014.

The shocking plot is based on real events, narrating a story about war, which never solves problems but creates even more horrific ones, Pahor's office said.

"I Saw Her That Night is a story about emptiness and about the people whom the war deprived of their lives - symbolically and actually."

The novel will be donated in three languages - Slovenian, French and English, bringing to the library "a Slovenian appeal and desire for peace".

We spent the last few days lazing in Bovec, enjoying the scenery and peace it affords, while also delving into the bloody history of the area, where around 300,000 people died in the twelve Battles of the Isonzo, which raged in these now idyllic hills and valleys from 1915 to 1917.