Bukovec (; in older sources also ''Bukovica'',''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 44. german: Bukowitz) is a small remote settlement in the hills on the edge of the

Municipality of Velike Lašče The Municipality of Velike Lašče (; sl, Občina Velike Lašče) is a municipality in Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Velike Lašče. It is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now included in the Centra ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. Traditionally the area is part of the

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( sl, Dolenjska; german: Unterkrain) is a traditional region in Slovenia, the southeastern part of the historical Carniola region. Geography Lower Carniola is delineated by the Ljubljana Basin with the city of Ljubljana to the no ...

region. It is now included in the

Central Slovenia Statistical Region The Central Slovenia Statistical Region ( sl, Osrednjeslovenska statistična regija) is a statistical region in central Slovenia. Geography This is the second-largest region in terms of territory. It has a total area of 2,555 km², with a ...

Name

The name ''Bukovec'' is derived from the common noun ''bukev'' '

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

'. Like similar toponyms in Slovenia (e.g., ''

Bukovica Bukovica may refer to: Croatia *Bukovica, Dalmatia, a geographical region in Croatia * Bukovica, Sisak-Moslavina County, a village near Topusko * Bukovica, Brod-Posavina County, a village near Rešetari *Nova Bukovica, a village and municipality i ...

Bukovo Bukovo ( mk, Буково, pronounced ) is a village in the Bitola municipality approximately three kilometers' distance from the city of Bitola in North Macedonia. Not unlike most other larger villages in the country, locals typically distingu ...

, Bukovje''), it originally referred to the local vegetation. In the past the German name was ''Bukowitz''.

History

During the Second World War, the Partisans often took refuge in Bukovec and the commands of various Partisan brigades operated in the area. On 22 March 1942, Italian forces burned all of the houses in the village.

Mass graves

Bukovec is the site of three known

mass graves A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...

associated with the Second World War. The Mačkovec Mass Grave ( sl, Grobišče Mačkovec) is located in the woods southeast of the settlement. Its location is marked by crosses cut into the trunks of two trees. It contained the remains of about 40 prisoners of war, mostly members of the

Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia The Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia ( it, Milizia Volontaria Anti Comunista, MVAC; sl, prostovoljna protikomunistična milica, also or , pejorative, meaning 'white guard'; sh, script=cyrl, italic=no, Добровољачка антикомун� ...

, that were taken from the prison in Ribnica and murdered at the site on 27 or 28 October 1943 by the

Partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

Loka Brigade. In October 2013 the remains were disinterred and reburied at the cemetery in

Begunje pri Cerknici Begunje pri Cerknici (; german: Wigaun''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 120.) is a settlement north of Cerknica in the Inner Carniola re ...

. The Italian Soldiers Mass Grave () is located in the woods south of Bukovec, below the north slope of Mačkovec Hill. It contains the remains of Italian soldiers. The Romani Mass Grave () is located in the woods south of Bukovec near the Janez Klančar Grave in the territory of neighboring Selo pri Robu, which is marked with a cross. It contains the remains of

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

murdered at the site by a Partisan group led by Stane Semič.Strle, France. 1980. ''Tomšičeva brigada: Uvodni del''. Ljubljana: Partizanska knjiga, p. 271.

References

External links

Bukovec on Geopedia
* Populated places in the Municipality of Velike Lašče {{VelikeLasce-geo-stub