Siege of Turjak

Siege of Turjak
Part of World War II in Yugoslavia
Turjak in flames
Date 19 September 1943 Location Turjak Castle, Province of Ljubljana (now Slovenia) 45.8767°N 14.6079°E / 45.8767; 14.6079 Result Partisan victory
Belligerents
Slovene Partisans	Former Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia (MVAC) Slovene Chetniks
Units involved
Prešeren Brigade	White Guard (Former MVAC) Civic Guard (Former MVAC) Legion of Death (Former MVAC) Blue Guard (Chetniks)
Strength
	650–700
Casualties and losses
unknown	20–30 killed
115–1,000 POWs killed in aftermath

The Siege of Turjak or Battle of Turjak (Slovene language: bitka za Turjak ) was fought on 19 September 1943 at the Turjak Castle between the Slovene Partisans on one side and the Slovene former units of the Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia (MVAC) and Slovene Chetniks on the other. The MVAC became defunct with the end of Italian rule. The battle followed the Partisan victory at Grčarice. Partisans encircled Turjak on 14 September, and laid siege to the castle as the defenders refused to surrender. The siege ended on 19 September with a Partisan victory, much thanks to heavy weapons that they had acquired from Italian forces.

The Partisans captured a reported 1,200 prisoners of war from Grčarice, Zapotok and Turjak. Although Partisan data listed 115 sentenced to death, and noted that some were killed while fleeing, estimations of victims are higher. Slovene anti-Partisan sources claim up to 1,000 killed.

Sources

• Gregor Joseph Kranjc (2013). To Walk with the Devil: Slovene Collaboration and Axis Occupation, 1941-1945. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4426-1330-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=1nVurhv7wwMC. 
• Antonio J. Munoz (1998). Slovenian Axis Forces in World War II, 1941-1945. Axis Europa. ISBN 978-1-891227-12-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=s9AMAQAAMAAJ. 
• Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-3615-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=fqUSGevFe5MC&printsec=frontcover. 
• France Grum; Stane Pleško (1961). Svoboda v razvzlinah: Grčarice, Turjak, Kočevje. Zgodovinski odsek Zveze slovenskih protikomunističnih borcev. https://books.google.com/books?id=jKkuAAAAIAAJ.