Otok () is a village on the left bank of the Kolpa River in the

Municipality of Metlika The Municipality of Metlika (; sl, Občina Metlika) is a municipality in the traditional region of Lower Carniola in southeastern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Metlika. Metlika became a municipality in 1994. Settlements ...

in the

White Carniola White Carniola ( sl, Bela krajina; german: Weißkrain or ''Weiße Mark'') is a traditional region in southeastern Slovenia on the border with Croatia. Due to its smallness, it is often considered a subunit of the broader Lower Carniola region, alt ...

area of southeastern

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, right on the border with

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. 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 n ...

and is now included in the

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including a

villa rustica Villa rustica () was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a farmhouse or villa set in the countryside and with an agricultural section, which applies to the vast majority of Roman villas. In some cases they were at the centre of a large ...

have been found close to the settlement.

World War II

DC-3 letalo kot spomenik v Otoku (Bela krajina )

A Partisan airport was located near Otok during World War II. The building of the simple grass runway began in spring 1944. The airport was ready for operation in June. Its military code name was EKG 2 and the commander was Stane Oberstal. The first aircraft landed there in September the same year. The airport was used by Allied airforces in order to deliver humanitarian and military aid, and to evacuate wounded and other people. It was used by Soviet aircraft until the end of 1944 and by British and American aircraft until March 1945.Rus, Zvonko. 1979. ''Partizanska letališča in spuščališča v Beli krajini'' (English: Partisan airports and drop areas in White Carniola). Ljubljana: Učne delavnice. The airport was part of three other Partisan airports in the vicinity:

Krasinec Krasinec (; german: Krassinz''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v dravnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 12.) is a settlement on the left bank of the Kolpa River in the Municipali ...

Griblje Griblje (; german: Grüble''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 6.) is a settlement on the left bank of the Kolpa River in the Municipalit ...

, and Prilozje after the first airport Podlesk ceased operation in September 1944. Today an original DC-3 airplane on the fields near Otok serves as a memorial for the airport and the Allied help.

References

External links

*
Otok on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Metlika {{Metlika-geo-stub