On Thursday, October 23, 2025, the staff of the Institute for Ethnic Studies took part in a professional excursion to Austrian Carinthia.
First, we visited the Provincial Museum in Klagenfurt, where we saw the excellent exhibition Hinschaun/Let’s Look! about the Nazi regime in Carinthia – an exhibition that encourages reflection on history, memory, and the role of minorities.
In Globasnica, we were welcomed by the mayor of the municipality, Bernard Sadovnik, president of the Community of Carinthian Slovenes (SKS). We talked with him about the situation of the Slovenian national community in Austria today, the effectiveness of measures to preserve the Slovenian language in bilingual areas of Carinthia, and the consequences of the shocking police intervention at the Peršman Museum in August 2025, which a special commission of the Austrian Ministry of the Interior described on the day of the excursion as illegal and disproportionate.
Finally, we visited the Peršman Museum ourselves, where we viewed the permanent exhibition on the former inhabitants of the Peršman farm – two Slovenian families who fell victim to a massacre by the SS and police regiment in the final days of World War II – and the key role of Carinthian Slovenes in the resistance against fascism in Austria.
We would like to thank everyone who kindly welcomed us, guided us, and talked to us about the significance and history of current issues concerning the Slovenian minority in Carinthia.
You are invited to view the photo highlights in the image gallery below.
