Jelenov Žleb (; german: Mathildensruhe''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 48.) is a small remote settlement in the hills south of Ribnica in southern

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 ...

. It no longer has any permanent residents, but is used seasonally by local forest workers. The area is part of the traditional region of

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 ...

and is now included in the

Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region The Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region ( sl, Jugovzhodna Slovenija statistična regija) is a statistical region in southeast Slovenia. It is the largest statistical region. The development of this region is largely the result of industry (the au ...

History

World War II

The vicinity of the settlement was the site of a well-known engagement between the

Slovene Partisans The Slovene Partisans, formally the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Slovenia, (NOV in POS) were part of Europe's most effective anti-Nazi resistance movement Jeffreys-Jones, R. (2013): ''In Spies We Trust: The Story of Western ...

and

Italian forces The Italian Armed Forces ( it, Forze armate italiane, ) encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation's military police and ar ...

. In the early morning hours of March 26, 1943, two Partisan brigades were moving from near

Kočevje Kočevje (; german: Gottschee; ''Göttscheab'' or ''Gətscheab'' in the local Gottscheerish dialect; it, Cocevie) is a city in the Municipality of Kočevje in southern Slovenia. It is the seat of the municipality. Geography The town is loc ...

towards Loški Potok when they were surprised by the passing battalion of the Macerata Division, which was preparing an ambush as a part of a plan to destroy the Partisans of the region. Three hundred sixty Partisans fought around 480 Italian soldiers and forced them to retreat. There were 106 killed and 102 injured soldiers on the Italian side, and the Partisan side had five dead and 20 injured.

Mass grave

The Jelenov Žleb Shaft

Mass Grave 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 ...

( sl, Grobišče Brezno v Jelenovem Žlebu) is located southwest of the settlement, along the road to Glažuta. It contains the remains of a number of Italian soldiers killed in the aforementioned battle.

Chapel

A small

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Anthony the Hermit and belongs to the Parish of Ribnica. It has a wooden belfry. It was built in 1906 and renovated in 1996.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 2221

References

External links

Jelenov Žleb on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Ribnica {{Ribnica-geo-stub