Jelšane (; it, Elsane) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in the

Municipality of Ilirska Bistrica The Municipality of Ilirska Bistrica (; sl, Občina Ilirska Bistrica) is a municipality in Slovenia. It belongs to the traditional region of Inner Carniola. The seat of the municipality is the town of Ilirska Bistrica. The current municipality w ...

in the

Inner Carniola Inner Carniola ( sl, Notranjska; german: Innerkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the southwestern part of the larger Carniola region. It comprises the Hrušica karst plateau up to Postojna Gate, bordering the Slovenian Littoral (the ...

region of

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 ...

, right on the border with

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. The Jelšane international border crossing between Slovenia and Croatia is just south of the village.

Mass graves

Jelšane is the site of six 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 ...

or unmarked graves from the end of the Second World War. Most contain the remains of German soldiers from the 97th Corps that fell at the beginning of May 1945. The Cemetery Wall Mass Grave ( sl, Grobišče za pokopališkim zidom) is located next to the west side of the cemetery wall and contains the remains of an unknown number of soldiers. The Kršnjak Mass Grave () is located about 120 m east of the village cemetery and contains the remains of six prisoners of war. The Brežine Mass Grave (), also known as the Lokva Mass Grave (), is located on the east edge of the village and contains the remains of six prisoners of war. The Christmas Valley Grave () is located in the woods east of the village and contains the remains of one soldier. The Branček Grave (), also known as the Šušnjak Grave (), is located on the south side of the road east of the village at a former lime kiln and contains the remains of one soldier. The Little Bridge Grave () is located at the crossroads south of the settlement. It contains the remains of an Italian officer killed by German soldiers.

Church

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the settlement is dedicated to the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

and belongs to the Koper Diocese.Koper Diocese list of churches

References

External links

Jelšane on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Ilirska Bistrica Lime kilns in Slovenia {{IlirskaBistrica-geo-stub