Gregorij Rožman

Gregorij Rožman
Ljubljana
Diocese	Diocese of Ljubljana
See	Ljubljana
Enthroned	17 May 1930
Reign ended	16 November 1959
Predecessor	Anton Bonaventura Jeglič
Successor	Anton Vovk
Personal details
Born	9 March 1883(1883-03-09) Dolintschitschach, Austria-Hungary
Died	16 November 1959(1959-11-16) (aged 76) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.

Gregorij Rožman (17 May 1883 – 16 November 1959) was a Slovenian Roman Catholic clergyman and theologian. Between 1930 and 1959, he served as bishop of the Diocese of Ljubljana. He is most famous for his controversial role during World War II. Some consider that Rožman, due to his pronounced anti-communism, excessively collaborated with the Fascist Italian and Nazi German occupation authorities. He has been accused of having abused his authority to actively promote military collaboration with the occupying forces to fight against the Communist-led Anti-Fascist resistance.

Rožman was an ardent anti-communist and opposed the Liberation Front of the Slovene People and the partisan forces because they were led by the Communist party. Because of his prominent role as a Church and moral authority during the Second World War, he has been accused of being responsible for the extensive collaboration of the Church authorities in the Province of Ljubljana with the Fascist and Nazi authorities. Others claim that he strove to ensure as few casualties as possible among Slovenes during occupation..

He continues to be perceived as a controversial figure in Slovenia.

The postwar Yugoslav Communist authorities charged Rožman with treason and trialed and convicted him in his absence on August 1946. During the Communist period, the official propaganda and historiography portrayed Rožman as a Nazi collaborator. On the other side, the Slovene branch of the Roman Catholic Church has been actively campaigning for rehabilitating Rožman.

In 2009, his trial was annulled in court on procedural grounds.

Pre-war years

Years in Carinthia

Rožman was born on March 9, 1883 into a Carinthian Slovene family in Dolintschitschach (Slovene: Dolinčiče) near Feistritz ob Bleiburg in Austria-Hungary to Franc Rožman and Terezija (née Glinik) Rožman. The family lived on a medium sized farm, had seven children (Gregorij was the youngest) and was severely indebted. In 1889 he started attending a public school in Šmihel and after completing it enrolled in a gymnasium in Klagenfurt. During his years in gymnasium he lived in the Marijinišče dormitory, which hosted students that were expected to study theology after graduating. He was very active there in Slovene cultural sphere: he published his essays in the newsletter of Carinthian Slovenes Mir and also (under the pseudonym "Emil Fanič") in the handwritten student journal Vaje, of which he was the editor from 7th grade until graduation (he edited six issues altogether).

After he graduated with honors in 1904 he went on to study theology in Klagenfurt. He joined the Academy of Slovene theologists (Slovene: Akademija slovenskih bogoslovcev) (he was the president of it in his last school year) and also participated with his essays in their journal Bratoljub (which he edited in school year 1906/07). At that time, Slovene students were, due to the nationalistic frictions in Carinthia, in constant conflict with the German students, which were publishing their own journal, Germania. He was also a member of Mary's congregation (Slovene: Marijina kongregacija). In his last school year he has visited Rome with the priest Anton Benetko. There he met the Pope Pius X, which made a great impression on him.

On 21 July 1907 he was ordained in his home parish of St. Michael(Slovene: Šmihel) by Bishop Jožef Khan. In 1908, he was sent as a chaplain in Ferlach, which was at that time politically controlled by German liberals, the workers were tending towards social democrats so the church knew they had to send a capable priest there. He first set to renew the spiritual life in his parish, he was also very active in propagating Christian-social ideas and organising the workers. Although he was very popular there, he only stayed in Ferlach for a year.

On 1 October 1909 he went to Vienna to continue his study of theology. On 27 June 1912 he obtained a PhD (Slovene: Doktorat) in theology from Catholic Theology Faculty of University of Vienna. After returning from hist study he was appointed as a prefect in boys' seminary Marianum in Klagenfurt in 1912 and as a docent of moral theology in 1913. In the school year 1914/15 he was appointed as a docent of Canon law and relieved of prefect service. As first three grades were moved from Klagenfurt to Plešivec (German: Tanzenberg) in 1914 he was split between Klagenfurt, where he taught moral theology to 4th grade and Plešivec, where he taught both moral theology and canon law to first three grades. He participated in Eucharistic Congress in Vienna in 1912 and as a result of it wrote a prayer book titled "Presveta Evharistija" (which was published in 1915 by Družba Sv. Mohorja). After the publication of a new Code of church law in 1917 he was appointed in a committee for its realization in Klagenfurt Diocese. He also participated in Slovene Christian-social (Slovene: Slovenska krščansko-socialna zveza) association as a lecturer.

When the Treaty of St. Germain divided the plebiscite area in Carinthia in zone A and B and the zone A was under Yugoslav administration and lost the contact to Klagenfurt, the Carinthian bishop Adam Hefter established a special vicariate in Ebendorfin July 1919 and Gregorij Rožman was appointed as a judicial consultant of general vicar provost Matija Raindl. Because of his engagement for Carinthian Slovenes and his open support for Yugoslavia in the Carinthian Plebiscite it was quite clear that in case a majority in the zone A decided against Yugoslavia in the plebiscite he would not be able to stay in Carinthia.

Canon law professor in Ljubljana

Soon after the integration of the Slovenes in Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, on 23 July 1919 a law about the creation of University of Ljubljana was signed by Regent Alexander and in December the lectures started. Janez Zore, a church historian from the Theology faculty, had proposed that Gregorij Rožman be invited as a professor of church law. An invitation was sent to Rožman on 19 September. Rožman replied that he was prepared to take that position, if he got a permission from his bishop Adam Hefter. The permission was granted in a few days and Rožman started giving lectures at the university on 7 January 1920. He lived in Ljubljana with professor Alfonz Levičnik and had also taken a position of a prefect in student's seminary Marijinišče in the school year 1920–21. After less than five months of teaching, on 31 May, he was nominated by his colleagues for a promotion to a docent position. This nomination was approved by the ministry on 27 August. He was listed as a associate professor in the school year 1924–25.

Rožman was known as a good professor, who delivered his lectures in simple, logical, systematical and understandable language and could explain dreary laws in an interesting way. He commonly emphasized the practical implications of the law, he also gave students many tips about its implications in the pastoral profession.

During this time he also published many essays, both professional and pastoral, mostly in Bogoslovni Vestnik (English: Theological Journal). Just like in his lectures, his professional essays were not of theoretical nature, he rather tried to explain the practical pastoral implications of a law for a common priest. He has also included the current events in Kingdom of Yugoslavia and elsewhere in the world in his essays. He wrote an important essay titled Church and politics (Slovene: Cerkev in politika) (date of publication unknown), that show his relation to politics and state, which would become very relevant in the Second World War. In it he said that in the human society the Church "has the task to protect the truths of Christianity, that is moral and religious truths, to protect, teach and accustom the nations for them to organize all their lives and acts according to these truths". In his opinion there are a lot of areas that are not related with the Church, so it has no right to take sides or even decide on this issues - the Church should only be involved in areas concerning religious, moral or ecclesiastical issues. He also stated his opinion about coup d'état (or revolution) and any official government authority: he said that "the church is indifferent on different forms of authority, it considers none of them to be the only right one; it rejects none, as long as it is capable of reaching the purpose of the state". He thinks that this purpose is to "protect the justice for everybody and to care for public prosperity". He says that the Church "condemns as immoral and violent change of government, every revolution". However if the violent takeover has occurred "the Church teaches, that the highest duty of every government is to take care of public prosperity. At the time of revolution, the highest duty of the government and the citizens is to end chaos as soon as possible and to build on the ruins of the old a new state, which will function as a device of public prosperity. If the revolutionary government is strong and able enough to positively organize the state to reach its goal, than this highest duty requires of every citizen to recognize the new government.". In this essays he also in the time of war it is the duty of the Church to "reduce the horror of the war" and to take care of war prisoners.

Another such important essay was Church and the state (Slovene: Cerkev in država), which was used for a lecture that he held in the fifth catholic rally in Ljubljana on 28 August 1923. In it he further revealed his relation to the government authority: he says that "the source of every authority, even political, is God. Every authority is given for the welfare of the humanity". He adds that the sovereignty of a state can not be absolute, as it is dependent on God, which set the limits to the authority, the limits "which it should not cross, if it does not want to abuse its power against the will of God, in which name it wields the sword (Romans 13,4)". He says that the common concern of both, the church and the state, is marriage, the upbringing of children and education. Disagreement between them in these areas causes great damage to the citizens and also the state itself. He also expresses a critique of the situation in Kingdom of Yugoslavia after the passing of the Vidovdan Constitution, which has set harsh limits on the freedom of the church. He says that the "annunciation of the religious truth is one of the main tasks of the Catholic Church and its inner affair", so "we must, on the basis of our catholic principles, reject every attempt to institute a police control over the church in its own matters"

Involvement in the organisation Orel

Orel (in Slovenia) was a Catholic youth gymnastic and sport movement, that was organized in the early 20th century as a alternative to a liberal gymnastic movement Sokol. The decision to create a Christian sport and gymnastics organisation was made at a big gathering of Slovene Christian-social association in Maribor, between 3 and 4 September 1905. The first such club was then established in Jesenice, in February 1906. Then on 10 April 1908, the Association of Gymnastic Sections (Slovene: Zveza Telovadnih Odsekov) was created. On 19 March 1909 at a local assembly of AGS in Bohinjska Bistrica, the organisation was officially named Orel.

Rožman had already become acquainted with the organisation in Carinthia, as by 1913, the Carinthian section of Orel already had five sub-sections. In 1920, when he was already in Ljubljana, he was elected in the Orel president board as a secondary vice-president. As a priest, he quickly became the spiritual leader of the organisation. As the organisation in Orel began to differentiate, he took leadership of some sections and groups (debate club, high-school student's section ...).

Orel has, after it was rebuilt in the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, greatly expanded in the number of members, but it has neglected its spiritual and religious role. So a new spiritual and religious reorganization was needed and Rožman (together with a high school professor Ernest Tomec) was one of the key figures here. In 1921 Rožman wrote an article in the Theological Journal titled Contributions for pastoral profession (Slovene: Prispevki za dušno pastirstvo) in which he expressed his ideas about pastoral activity of youth organisations (like Orel). He first addresses the question whether the organisation should attend equally to anybody (which would produce poor results) or should it only focus on the selected (elite) group of people (that would produce great results - "elite or mass". He advocates for a compromise between these two, saying that the Catholic Church is required to pastorally attend anyone that counts himself as its member, but that its missionary activity should also be very emphasized, because it is easier to influence the people with help of special organizations, specially youth organizations. He emphasized the need for the youth to be part of the Christian organisations, because if the youngsters were left alone, they could easily fall under the influence of materialism and so becoming communists or social democrats. He has heavily propagated the importance of spiritual growth, advising the members or Orel to join Mary's congregation (as they were more focused on spiritual life than Orel). In addition to that, he has also emphasized the importance of family values, national consciousness and other Christian values in Orel.

He had to leave Orel in 1929, when he became suffragan bishop and the Yugoslav government has also banned Orel (only leaving the state-controlled Sokol) shortly afterwards.

Bishop of Ljubljana

As a bishop, he set out to spiritually renew his diocese, starting with the priests, who in his opinion should not be involved in politics. He was very fond of the youth and was the spiritual leader of the gymnastics organization and movement Orel until it was banned by the Yugoslav authorities in 1929. From then on, he focused on Mary's societies (Slovene: Marijine Družbe), but mainly on the Catholic Action, in which he saw the strongest tool for the renewal of his diocese. In the argument between two Christian youth organisations, Mladci Kristusa Kralja (called just Mladci - English: Youngsters) lead by gymnasium professor Ernest Tomec and academic club Straža (members were called Stražarji - English: Guards) lead by theology professor Lambert Ehrlich, which both claimed to represent CA, he decided in favor of Mladci.

He was known as an excellent speaker, who thoroughly prepared his sermons.

War time activities

Background and mid-war situation in Slovenia

See also: History of Slovenia#World War II

The Slovene territory – from 1929 the Drava Province – in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia covered 15.036 km² and had, according to census in 1921, 1,054,919 inhabitants. After the Invasion by Axis forces on April 6, 1941 the Axis powers occupied this territory and divided it between themselves. The biggest part of the Drava Province was occupied by the Germans – the Lower Styria (Lower Styria), the Meža Valley), Upper Carniola and the Central Sava Valley). Italians occupied Ljubljana, Inner Carniola), Lower Carniola), White Carniola) and Hungary was given to Prekmurje – except for four communities at the western part of the territory, that came to Germany. All three occupiers aimed at a quick formal annexation. The Italians passed the Autonomy-Statute for the so-called "Provincia di Lubiana" (Province of Ljubljana) on May 3, 1941, the Hungarians realized their formal annexation on December 16, 1941. The Germans who wanted to proclaim their formal annexation to the German Reich on 1 October 1941, postponed it first because of the installation of the new ”Gauleiter“ and "Reichsstatthalter" of Carinthia and later on they dropped the plan because of partisan activities. Only Meža valley became part of "Reichsgau Carinthia" at once. Some villages in southeastern Slovenia were annexed by the Independent State of Croatia.

Italians gave Slovenes cultural autonomy within their occupation zone (Province of Ljubljana): they recognized Slovenian nation, left most of the old administration in place, Italian language was only introduced as an optional language in high schools and universities and at first, there was very little violence performed by them. They even accepted 18,000 refugees that fled from the German occupation zone. This can be to some degree attributed to co-operation ("collaboration") of notable Slovenian public figures with the Italians. Their attitude changed after first actions of the communist Liberation Front.

On the other hand, the Nazis started a policy of violent Germanisation, which culminated with the resettlement more than 83,000 Slovenes to other parts of the Third Reich, as well as to Serbia and Croatia. More than 63,000 Slovenes were interned to Nazi concentration camps. Slovenian language was banned from public use, Slovenian cultural associations were dissolved etc. German regime was very hostile to the church too: a lot of its property was confiscated, many priests forced into exile, and the authorities didn't accept any intervention for the people from the church. Hungarian regime was similar to the German one.

The communist party, rather weak in numbers but experienced in underground activities – this is because the CP was forbidden in Yugoslavia since 1920 – saw the occupation as a chance to gain power. For that reason a sort of umbrella organisation of resistance named Liberation Front of the Slovene People was organized, through which communists were able to win several leftist groups on their side. This “Liberation Front“, that at first could only develop on Italian occupying zone, monopolized the resistance against the enemy already on September 16, 1941 and declared everyone who was organized outside the “Liberation Front“ to be a traitor – including those who worked underground against the occupiers. In addition, traitors had to be sentenced to death – after a condemnation by an obscure secret court, that actually never existed. In this way many patriotic Slovenes, including Church representatives (most notable example here is the assassination of Lambert Ehrlich), were „liquidated“ by “Security-Intelligence Service“, called VOS (Slovene: Varnostno Obveščevalna Služba), a unit that was recruited solely out of members of the communist party and communist youth organization SKOJ and was lead exclusively by the Central Committee of the Slovenian Communist Party. The inhabitants of the Province of Ljubljana, especially the peasants, suffered not only because of the Italian attacks on their lives and property, but also because of the partisan attacks. These two were often related: one day partisans would come to the village, staying there for a few weeks. During that time they often confiscated food and property from villagers, giving some of them certificates about the "freedom loans", as this confiscations were called, that would guarantee to get their property back after the liberation. Few people were given this certificates and even fewer ("politically suitable" ones) were actually given their property back after the war. When the Italians found out, that the partisans were in that village, they came to the village with strong army (which partisans usually didn't hold back but fled to the forest instead) and punished the villagers for not reporting partisans to them. After a short period they would retreat to their base and partisans would come back (and the story would repeat itself).

Partisans also performed "revolutionary" or "red" violence - violence targeted against the "enemies" of the working class in the communist doctrine. The enemies included people, who didn't agree with communism, especially outstanding Catholics, wealthier people, some cases included Gypsies and German ethnic minority. This violence was especially frequent and brutal in spring and early summer 1942 (which lead on to spontaneous creations of village guards against such violence), because the Partisans mistakenly thought that the Germany will be soon defeated by the Soviets, so they had to complete the "revolution".

Among the victims of the red violence during the war there were 46 diocesan priests and 6 priests belonging to different religious orders. In comparison: the occupiers killed on the whole Slovene territory including the Slovene Littoral 24 diocesan priests and 10 priests of religious orders.

Relations with the Italian occupiers

The Bishop and Church dignitaries wanted that the people to survive the war with not too many victims and as undamaged as possible. Rožman was convinced that for such a small nation an armed struggle against the occupying forces was of no use and doomed to fail, because the great sacrifices could be in no relation to a possible partial success.

After the Italians issued the Statue of Autonomy on May 3, 1941, they expected that the bishop writes a declaration od loyalty. He therefore addressed a so-called declaration of loyalty on the High Commissioner Emilio Grazioli, but the High Commissioner was not satisfied with its wording. He forged it and directed it to Mussolini. Grazioli's text was published in the press and was written in a highly glorifying tone. The original version read

"Excellency! A decree has been published today, via which the Slovenian territory occupied by the Italian army has been incorporated into Italy. When I consider this, I thank your Excellency ... I express absolute loyalty and ask God to bless you and our aspirations for the welfare of our people".

Rožman actually only emphasized free development in the cultural and religious spheres and promised loyalty and send blessing for the efforts of the authorities for the good of the people. The forgery was so effective that still today many publications use it as a proof of Rožman's collaboration. Former politicians, such as former Ban Marko Natlačen and the mayor of Ljubljana, Juro Adlešič were also brought to address a declaration to Italian authorities. The wording of their declaration was also dictated by Italians.

He celebrated Masses for the Italian troops, provided Italian-speaking confessionals and organized a Mass of thanksgiving to Mussolini on 22 May 1941 at St. Nicholas Cathedral, Ljubljana. Rožman referred to the Italians as powers "which God has established" with whom Church representatives will "be pleased to co-operate". Italian propaganda effort took full advantage of his willingness to oblige, leading to Rožman being criticized by priests from Primorska region.

Rožman condemned the occupiers twice. On October 24, 1941 he wrote a letter to the clergy in which he complained about the devastation of the part of his diocese occupied by the Germans: in it all Church property was confiscated, religious servants of both sexes expelled from their convents and 193 members of secular clergy expelled from 148 parishes and that about 200.000 of his people were without spiritual care. On 26 September 1942 he handed over to Grazzioli a memorandum, in which he criticized Italian repression means and proposed facilitating measures in 20 points. Grazzioli was furious and told him that if he weren't a bishop, he would have arrested him. Rožman wanted to condemn Italians from the pulpit, but during his visit to Rome in May 1942 the Pope advised him not to, because in that case the Italians would isolate him somewhere inside Italy and he would not be able to help people in Ljubljana.

The 12 September 1942 memo

In August 1942 the Italian generals Mario Roatta and Mario Robotti visited the bishop and told him they would burn the whole Province of Ljubljana and kill or deport all of its inhabitants if the partisan attacks would not stop. Rožman therefore invited 21 representatives of the former political parties and of cultural institution to discuss the Italian threats (20 of which actually came). They have reached no agreement about stopping the partisan attacks, they agreed only to organize help for the victims. After the meeting a memorandum was written. The original version of this memorandum has never been found, only the German translation, so that it is not known who the authors were and how authentic the translation actually is. There is also no information about the bishop's contribution, or even whether he was among the authors. It is only known that he brought the memorandum to general Robotti, commander of the Italian 11th Army Corps. The memo read:

“

From the sound part of the Slovene people, who have declared themselves ready to seriously work together with the Italian authorities for the purpose of reestablishing order and destroying subversive and rebellious elements, the following is proposed to the military authorities: We should be allowed to establish protective armed units under Slovene command in all rural areas. The names of the members and commanders of these armed units will be supplied to the military authorities. (...) The commanders of these units will be selected from men worthy of trust, to fully guarantee that the arms will be used exclusively against rebellious elements that endanger the land either with arms or revolutionary propaganda. We are convinced that without the proposed system of protective units, no self-supporting or lasting order can be maintained. The soldiers have already dispersed the camps and groups of the rebels, but many of them are still in the woods and in villages, where they are camouflaged as peace-loving citizens. Such persons are not known to the Italian armed forces. Because of their unfamiliarity with the language and the difficulty of finding those who help those who hide in the woods, it will be very difficult to find the culprits. But for the local young men such difficulties are nonexistent or can easily be overcome... In addition to the protective units stationed in rural areas, it would be necessary to establish a few central units under the command of former Yugoslav officers. The task of these units would be to keep wooded areas under surveillance and to prevent the formation of armed Partisan groups. To achieve the given objective, it would be necessary to bring back some young, dependable former Yugoslav officers from prisoner-of-war camps, but in an unobtrusive fashion, as if letting the officers home on furlough. Their names would be proposed by us. In regard to Ljubljana, the following is proposed as urgent: (...) We should be allowed, so to speak, to establish a Corps of Secret Police of 500 men, to be armed with revolvers. We can give assurances that within six weeks, dangerous elements would be found, arrested and turned over to the authorities. Those persons who have false identification cards and who freely circulate in the streets would be identified and arrested with the help of the citizens. In this way Ljubljana would become a peaceful and orderly city in which there would be no more Communists. At the same time everything would be done to remold public opinion with the help of strong and continuing anti-Communist propaganda. These sincere proposals show the goodwill of the majority of the population and create the possibility of achieving the given objective in a manner that must also please the authorities. His Excellence, General Roatta, has said that the people must now choose between order and Bolshevism. We have chosen order, and propose the only way that in our humble opinion will be effective and certain to achieve complete order in active collaboration with the authorities.

”

The original of this memo has been lost; its German translation is in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Also preserved are Robotti's notes in which he refers to Rožman as the author, and adds: "[T]he security guards that the Bishop suggests, correspond with local militias that have the task of defending their villages against communists, and to be available for actions in the local area - there are many such militias, which count a total of 1,000 men. These are doing their work decisively, not only from a military standpoint, but also as police, as the Bishop says...".

Stance towards communism

For Rožman as well as for the most Church representatives, the fact that by communists dominated "Liberation Front" monopolized the resistance (and performed murderous sanctions against the so-called traitors) presented special dilemma. On one side, Church detested the violation of human rights and measures of repression as well as brutal dictatorship of the occupying forces altogether, but on the other side there were Marxism and Bolshevism which were incompatible with the doctrine of Christian church. The ideological differences were the subject of the anti-communist encyclical Divini Redemptoris issued in 1937 by Pope Pius XI which Rožman used as a basis for his stance, going so far to reject in 1938 as irrelevant for situation in Slovenia the Pope's clarification to French Catholics that the encyclical was not meant as a directive for absolute noncooperation with communists.

In addition to that, the communists, similarly as the occupiers, later began using violent methods for gaining political power (not only such that was dictated by self-defense and liberation), which Church authorities could in no case accept. In 1943, after the fall of Turjak and Grčarice, followed by mass liquidations at Jelendol, Mozelj and other places and the show trial in Kočevje he dedicated all four sermons in Advent communism and the evils that this ideology brings in all aspects of life. He spoke about how the communists acted in Russia and in Spain.

Rožman said that it is his duty to speak the truth, otherwise he will have to justify himself in front of God. He preached »Do zadnjega bom trdil in učil, da je brezbožni komunizem največje zlo in največja nesreča za slovenski narod« (English: To the end I will claim and teach that atheistic communism is the greatest evil and greatest tragedy for the Slovene nation). At the funeral of Marko Natlačen, who was executed by a member of VOS (Varnostnoobveščavalna služba, Security and Intelligence Service) - organization that was only responsible to the communist party - at his home on October 12, 1942, Rožman said there can be "no co-operation, no association with godlessness or those to whom godlessness is a leading opinion. Stand firm in your belief in God, build your future on God's Commandments, which alone can be a firm basis of healthy development of any nation, big or small. Stay alive - my nation - don't kill yourself and don't provoke measures able to hit your life force."

Also in the well-known "Pastoral letter about the godless communism" (Slovene: "Pastirsko pismo o nevarnosti brezbožnega komunizma") on November 30, 1943 he asks the Catholics to "fight" the "godless communism" through prayers. Rožman wrote "I know that advocates of communism and some other blind Catholics will reproach me that I am meddling in politics in a pastoral letter, which isn't a matter for a Bishop and doesn't appertain to the Church. But, dear believers, the battle against communism isn't political, but a religious matter, as it touches upon belief in God, one of the most basic truths of every faith, especially our Christian faith. To reject atheistic doctrines, to defend the truths of our global religion is a religious matter and a religious duty, that admits everyone with common sense." . In his Christmas message to the Domobranci in 1944 Rožman talked about shepherds in Bethlehem keeping watch over their flock in the fields and asked the Domobranci to take an example by them. "You are defending your nation against wolves and jackals who destroy lives and property of their own fellow-countrymen, against 'tenants, who do not care about their sheep', who are poisoning souls with foreign mentality of godless communism and through that they break down the spiritual foundations, on which all the spiritual wealth that we have in common with Christian Europe, has been built for centuries".

Interventions for the prisoners

Rožman intervened for numerous people at the Italian authorities directly and via Vatican: deported to Serbia, Croatia and Germany, clergymen, refugees, orthodox Serbs, Jews, arrested, prisoners of war, Jugoslav officers, hostages, condemned, children, internees in Rab (Arbre), Treviso (Monigo), Renicci, Gonars. The research so far shows that he has intervened for 1318 individual people, for some of them more than once, so that we now can identify 1210 people for whom he intervened . He had also intervened for various groups (for example 350 priests, who were deported to Croatia by Germans or 1700 children in the Italian concentration camps). Number of members in only known for some of these groups, they total at least 2495 people altogether . Bishop’a secretary, Dr. Stanislav Lenič, testified that sometimes up to 50 petitioners came to bishop on one single day and that he helped them regardless of their political views. Among many documents a letter written by Gastone Gambarra, the Commander of Italian XI. Army corps, on April 26, 1943 testifies that 122 internees were released because of his intervention. But Italians soon noticed that the bishop made no differences in his interventions, so Grazioli asked his subordinates to treat the Bishop‘s interventions as anyone else`s, because he intervened for the "unworthy".

However, according to some historians, Rožman's messages to Italian authorities (such as the September 1942 memos) suggest that the goal of some of those interventions was above all to acquire experienced officers for the Village Guard units.

Relations with the German occupiers

Bishop Gregorij Rožman and SS General Erwin Rösener in conversation

After the capitulation of Italy (September 1943), Ljubljana was occupied by the Germans. Rožman has agreed with Friedrich Rainer's intention that Leon Rupnik should become the president of the new provincial government, although Rupnik was already chosen by Reiner for that position. Rupnik was appointed as a president of provincial government on 22 September 1943.

He was seen twice at formal and informal events chatting with SS General Erwin Rösener, the commander of German forces in the province. From 1943 until the end of the war, Rožman was closely associated with the anti-Partisan, anti-communist Domobranci, the Slovenian Home Guard forces formed by order of SS General Rösener on 24 September 1943.

Rožman personally held a silent mass prior to Domobranci swearing a collective oath of allegiance at Ljubljana central stadium on 20 April 1944. He then, according to some witnesses, chose to observe from the background despite being offered place on the main stand, and left quickly afterwards. He declined to hold the mass at the second swearing on 30 January 1945, but was present at the subsequent Domobranci parade in front of the Ursuline Church. This decision had led to numerous speculations on his true motives. In his Christmas message to the Domobranci at the end of 1944, Rožman wrote: "You are defending your nation against wolves and jackals (…) who are poisoning souls with the foreign mentality of atheistic communism".

At the end of the war

At the end of the war, he fled to the British zone of Austria. Rožman was put on trial in absentia by the military court of the 4th Yugoslav Army in Ljubljana for treason; convicted and sentenced in absentia to 18 years imprisonment and forced labour, lifelong loss of citizenship and limitation of citizen rights on 30 August 1946.

After the war

Various leading Catholic figures from Yugoslavia were indicted for alleged war crimes, but managed to escape. These included Bishop Ivan Šarić of Sarajevo, who had set about forcibly converting the local population to Catholicism. Rožman, Šarić and others were living under the British supervision at the Bishop's Palace at Klagenfurt, Austria, in October 1946. Rožman began to appear in American and British intelligence reports as being involved in ratlines that spirited wanted Axis and collaborationist fugitives out of Europe. Although in some books and in internet obe can read that bishop Rožman was funneling money to South America from a Swiss bank account set up "to aid refugees of the Catholic religion", there is absolutely no evidence to that and in his correspondence there is no evidence of any contacts to such Croatian circles. To get an American visa bishop Rožman did not visit the consulate of Berne, he communicated with the United states Consulate General at Zürich on May 25 for the purpose of obtaining a visitorŽs visa to come to the United states. On May 28 he appeared at the Consulate general where he was informed about the United States regulations regarding the issue of a non-quota immigration visa as a minister of religion. Rožman and Šarić were not together in Switzerland. Rožman was residing at the Institut Menzingen, near Zug and Šarić was residing at Haute Rive near Friborg. Šarić was not interested in coming to US and he remained in Europe.

“In Berne, Rožman's Ustashi friends were engaged in wholesale fraud, using the black market to convert the gold into dollars, and later, into Austrian schillings. 'Aid to the refugees is accounted for at the official rate of exchange for dollars', the American officers noted, adding that 'malpractices have been carried on (officially, the dollar is worth 10 schillings; on the black market, 100 to 150). According to reliable information: 'Rožman is going to Berne to take care of these finances. The money is in a Swiss bank, and he plans to have most of it sent through to Italy and from there to the Ustaše in [the] Argentine.'”

“A short time later Rožman duly arrived in Berne, accompanied by Bishop Ivan Šarić, the 'hangman' of Sarajevo. By the end of May 1948, Rožman had apparently carried out this money laundering operation for the Ustashi, for he visited the U.S. Consulate in Zurich and was given a 'non-quota immigration visa as a minister of religion'. He then traveled to the United States and settled in Cleveland, Ohio. The circle was now almost complete. Pavelić's stolen 'treasure' had been tracked down through close monitoring of the movements and activities of the quisling Bishop of Ljubljana....”

After settling permanently in Cleveland, Rožman is recorded as having visited Argentina on three occasions, in 1949, 1952 and 1956. He died in Cleveland on 16 November 1959, aged 76.

Rehabilitation and lawsuits

In recent years, a request has been made by the Catholic Church, supported by many historians and other journalists and publicists, to reevaluate the lawsuit about Gregorij Rožman. An official request for the reevaluation was made by Slovenian Public Prosecutor Anton Drobnič prior to the visit to Slovenia by Pope John Paul II in 1999. Anton Drobnič has ordered two historians, Tamara Griesser Pečar and France M. Dolinar to prepare an expertise for this retrial. It was later later published as a book "Rožmanov proces".. On the basis, among other things, that he should have had the right to defend himself, Rožman's 1946 conviction has been overturned by the Slovenian Supreme Court and his case sent to the court of first instance for retrial. On April 10, 2009 the trial was stopped completely

See also

• Yugoslavia during the Second World War
• Collaboration during World War II
• Slovenian Home Guard
• Leon Rupnik

References

Bibliography

• Čipić Rehar, Marija; Dolinar, France M.; Griesser Pečar, Tamara; Otrin, Blaž; Visočnik, Julijana (2010) (in Slovene). Med sodbo sodišča in sodbo vesti [Between judgment of the court and judgment of conscience]. Ljubljana: Družina. ISBN 978-961-222-774-6. 
• Dolinar, France M.; Griesser Pečar, Tamara (1996) (in Slovene). Rožmanov proces [Rožman's process]. Ljubljana: Družina. ISBN 961-222-088-3. 
• Kolarič Rehar, Jakob (1967) (in Slovene). Škof Rožman : duhovna podoba velike osebnosti na prelomnici časa [Bishop Rozman: the spiritual image of the great personalitie on the turning point of time]. Celovec: Družba sv. Mohorja. 
• Pleterski, Janko; et al. (2008) (in Slovene). Škof Rožman v zgodovini [Bishop Rožman in History]. Ljubljana: Društvo piscev zgodovine NOB Slovenije. 
• (in Slovene) Rožmanov simpozij v Rimu [Rožman's symposium in Rome]. Celje: Mohorjeva družba. 2001. ISBN 961-218-355-4. 

External links

• Tamara Griesser Pečar (12 November 2009). "Ljubljanski škof dr. Gregorij Rožman". Nova Slovenska Zaveza. http://www.zaveza.si/index.php/home/misel-in-spomin/45-kof-gregorij-roman/80-skof-gregorij-rozman. Retrieved 18 July 2011. 
• Tamara Griesser Pečar (4 November 2009). "Predstavitev knjige o škofu dr. Gregoriju Rožmanu: Med sodbo sodišče in sodbo vesti". Družina. http://www.druzina.si/icd/spletnastran.nsf/637e22b03329649bc1256eb7004f42e3/97147f2ab77b9312c12576630044232f/$FILE/Predstavitev%20Tamara%20Griesser%20Pe%C4%8Dar.pdf. Retrieved 22 July 2011.