In July 1944, the Nazis committed a crime at an isolated farm, locally known as Karlut. For collaborating with the partisans, the father, who was Slovenian, and the pregnant mother, who was of Austrian nationality, were shot in the barn and the farmhouse was set on fire. The two-year-old child was taken away and it's fate is unknown…
Cvetko, a partisan, was treated for about three months by the closest relatives of this family, because he was shot in both of his knees. The landlord was an Austrian from Tyrol and an ardent anti-fascist. He always served the partisans kindly, gave them food and went to the valley to get information about the movements of the German army. Finally, the Nazis took him away, saying that they were going to integrate him into the Land guard, but in fact they killed him. The whereabouts of his grave are unknown.
In 1982, the Association of Carinthian Partisans erected a memorial at Karlut's homestead. The text is only in German, because the present owner did not allow bilingualism, given the political atmosphere in Carinthia at that time:
On 23. 7. 1944, the innocent victims Martin Slemenšek,
born on 23. 9. 1909, and the pregnant
Margarete Mally, born 2. 6. 1925, were shot by the
SS police, here at Karlut's homestead.
The bodies and the farm building were set on fire.
At the unveiling of the monument, Filip Warasch, the then municipal committee member and vice-president of the National Council of Carinthian Slovenians, emphasised in his speech:
"Resistance to Nazism, suffering, emigration and armed
struggle in the framework of the National Liberation Army: this is the common
history of the Slovenes of Carinthia, the history of the ZSO and the NSKS,
as Article 7 of the Austrian State Treaty is the fruit of the victory over
Nazism and our common efforts."
Location:
The memorial is located a few kilometres east of Djekše / Diex, in the former municipality of Knež, directly on the right side of the road to Pustrica / Pustritz.