⭐ 2: A Travel Trunk
The Fate of a Deported Family from the Posavje Region
Travel trunks represent the fates of many deportees who were forced to leave their homes and country during World War II. Some of them learnt they would be deported early enough and had time to prepare for it. They also took along some valuable items that reminded them of their home. Many, however, had to leave in a hurry and only had a few minutes to pack some essentials.
The Božič family from the hamlet of Spodnje Pijavško started preparing to leave a week earlier when they found out they would be deported. They made a few wooden trunks to store and transport their personal belongings, some clothes and kitchen utensils. The green trunk was used by the daughter Gabrijela to store her valuables and a sewing machine.
A wooden travel trunk used for transporting luggage; it has a lid and metal loop latch without a lock; the exterior of the trunk is green; the inscription on the front left side reads: Božič Gabriela, Pijavško, Brežice, Slovenia. Gabrijela Božič used the wooden trunk to take a sewing machine and her personal belongings with her when she was deported to Germany. Her brothers, Anton and Alojz, made a few such wooden trunks at home and their family used them to store their personal items, clothing and some kitchen utensils. The family was deported to the Haynau (Chojnów) camp in Lower Silesia.
Dated: ca. 1941
Material: wood, metal
Dimensions: length 101 cm, width 56 cm, height 57 cm
Origin: donated by Antonija Božič, Spodnje Pijavško, Krško
Inv. No.: Z4:3783
On view: permanent exhibition Under Nine Flags – Posavje 1900–1990, 2nd floor of Brežice Castle, on view until 9. 5. 2013, curated by: Vlasta Dejak
For Heritage Enthusiasts:
On 20 October 1941, the Posavje region was flooded with posters announcing the deportation of people from the Obsavje and Obsotelje areas to Germany. The German occupiers started the deportation in the villages along the river Sotla River on 23 October 1941. By late July 1942, about 37,000 Slovenes had been deported from the Rajhenburg camp to Germany. About 83% of the population from Posavje and Obsotelje was deported.
The Božič family from the hamlet of Spodnje Pijavško near Krško found out they would be deported to an unknown place a week before they had to leave. They slaughtered their domestic animals, the crops, however, were left in the fields. Brothers Anton and Alojz made some wooden trunks so they could take some of their personal items, clothing and kitchen utensils. Sister Gabrijela used a green trunk to pack some of her personal belongings and a sewing machine. After arriving at the transit camp at the Rajhenbug Castle that served as a point to gather Slovenes ahead of their deportation, the Germans compiled a record of all the deportees, and each family got metal ID tags – the so-called ‘dog tags’ – and from then on numbers were used in place of their first names and surnames. After a few days' wait, the internees were taken by train to more than 300 labour camps across Germany, where they were exploited as cheap labour. The Božič family was deported to Lower Silesia, to Haynau, camp number 100, to the building of a former Catholic school.
After the war, the surviving deportees started returning to their homeland and they came back home to find their houses empty and looted. In the autumn of 1945, with the winter fast approaching, the Božič family also returned to their abandoned and overgrown home.
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| Anton Božič, Gabrijela Božič's brother, with a friend at the Haynau camp in Lower Silesia, 1941–1945. The original photo is kept by Antonija Božič, Spodnje Pijavško; a copy is kept by the Posavje Museum Brežice. |
The Božič family, Spodnje Pijavško, circa 1925. Pictured: mother Ivana with daughter Gabrijela next to her; son Anton, daughter Ivanka and son Alojz are standing behind. The original photo is kept by Antonija Božič, Spodnje Pijavško; a copy is kept by the Posavje Museum Brežice. |
For more information see:
- Dejak Vlasta: Pod devetimi zastavami. Posavje – 1900–1990, Vodnik po stalni razstavi novejše zgodovine, Brežice: Posavski muzej Brežice, 2014.
- Ferenc Tone: Nacistična raznarodovalna politika v Sloveniji v letih 1941–1945, Maribor: Založba Obzorja, 1968.
- Ferenc Tone: Okupacijski sistemi med drugo svetovno vojno, 2, Raznarodovanje, Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba filozofske fakultete, 2010.
- Kokalj Kočevar Monika, Irena Fürst: Slovenski izgnanci 1941–1945, Ljubljana: Muzej novejše zgodovine, 2014.
Prepared by: Maja Marinčič
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