Jelendol (; Petschauer, Erich. 1980. "Die Gottscheer Siedlungen – Ortsnamenverzeichnis." In ''Das Jahrhundertbuch der Gottscheer'' (pp. 181–197). Klagenfurt: Leustik. or ''Hirisgruben'',''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 48.

Gottscheerish Gottscheerish (''Göttscheabarisch'',Maridi Tscherne: Wörterbuch Gottscheerisch-Slowenisch. Einrichtung für die Erhaltung des Kulturerbes Nesseltal, Koprivnik/Nesseltal 2010. , ) is an Upper German dialect which was the main language of c ...

: ''Hirisgruəbn'') is a settlement south of

Rakitnica Rakitnica may refer to: * Rakitnica (Neretva), a tributary of the Neretva river in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Rakitnica, Trnovo, a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Rakitnica, Ribnica, a village in Slovenia * Rakitnica, Demir Hisar, a village in No ...

in the

Municipality of Ribnica The Municipality of Ribnica (; ) is a municipality in southern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Ribnica. It is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now included in the Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region ...

in southern

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. The area is part of the traditional region of

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region in Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south an ...

and is now included in the

Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region The Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region () 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 auto industry, pharmaceuticals, and other light ...

Name

According to Snoj, names like '' Jêlendol'', pronounced / ɛː/, are ultimately derived from the Slovene common noun ''jelen'' '

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

', meaning 'deer hollow, deer valley', but names like '' Jélendol'', pronounced / eː/, are instead derived from *''Jélin dôl'', literally '

fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

hollow, fir valley' from the Slovene common noun ''jela'' 'fir'. This toponym is one of the latter. The German name ''Hirschgruben'' and the Gottscheerish name ''Hirisgruəbn'' mean 'deer hollow' (cf. German ''Hirsch'' 'deer', Gottscheerish ''hiris'' 'deer').

History

Jelendol was a Gottschee German settlement. North of the village, on the slope of Strmec Hill, are the remnants of an unfinished castle that the Auersperg noble family had started building. The Auerspergs drew water from Cave Spring () to supply a steam-powered sawmill in the village.Savnik, Roman, ed. 1971. ''Krajevni leksikon Slovenije'', vol. 2. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, p. 564. Jelendol was an industrial settlement in the middle of a fir and beech forest. The sawmill had a production capacity of 700 wagons of lumber per year, which was exported to Italy, Spain, and Africa. Before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the village had three houses and a population of 48. The original residents were evicted from the area in 1941 during the Second World War and the sawmill was burned. After the war, the site consisted of two large buildings surrounded by coniferous forest. The village no longer has any permanent residents, and the buildings were occasionally used by forestry workers until they were removed in the 1980s.

Mass grave

Jelendol is the site of a

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may Unidentified decedent, 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 exec ...

from the Second World War. The Jelendol Mass Grave () is located 9 km south of Ribnica, about west of the road between Ribnica and

Grčarice Grčarice (; locally also ''Grčav(i)ce'',Snoj, Marko. 2009. ''Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen''. Ljubljana: Modrijan and Založba ZRC, p. 152. in older sources also ''Gerčarice'', ,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopani ...

. It contained the remains of 119 anticommunist militia prisoners of war from the prison in Ribnica that were shot by the communist Security and Intelligence Service (VOS) in October 1943. Most of the victims were reburied at the military cemetery in Hrovača on 4 October 1944.''Občinski prostorski načrt za območje Občine Ribnica'', p. 20.

References

External links

*
Jelendol on GeopediaPre–World War II map of Jelendol with oeconyms and family names
{{Ribnica Populated places in the Municipality of Ribnica