Peršmanhof in Koprein-Petzen/Koprivna pod Peco
The Peršmanhof near Eisenkappl/Želenzna kapla accommodates the only museum in Carinthia which is dedicated to the the partisans' antifascist fight. Paying a visit is highly recommended! (Tel.: +43 (0) 4238/25060, http://www.persman.at)On 25 April 1945 the courtyard was the scene of one of the last huge war crimes in the region when a SS police unit committed a massacre there, murdering 11 members of the Sadovnik family and the Kogoj family. The partisans - the NS henchmen's alleged target - had already moved on or retreated when the units approached.
A bronze memorial which shows three partisans found its new place in front of the small museum. Its history is typical for the way Carinthians officials deal with the antifascist tradition: Originally the memorial was erected at the St. Ruprecht Cemetery near Völkermarkt/Š Rupert pri Velikovcu but some citizens of Carinthia "faithful to their country" (i.e. German nationalists) resorted to the use of explosives in 1953 to end the "provocation". Thirty years later the partisan association (Partisanen Verband) finally reerected the memorial without any communal aid in front of the secluded Peršmanhof this time. In 1962 the Austrian Republic - which by paragraph 19 of the state treaty is obliged to preserve the graves and memorials of allies and partisans - had an "innocuous” bowl commemorating the victims placed on top of the now way oversized pedestal at the graves of the 83 resistance fighters buried in St. Ruprecht.