The Schutzstaffel (SS): Waffen-SS, Gestapo & Einsatzgruppen
Erwin Rösener: SS General Behind Brutal Reprisals in Slovenia
13m
April 1941. Nazi Germany invades Yugoslavia, crushing the country within days and dividing it among Axis powers. In occupied Slovenia, resistance grows—but every act of defiance is met with ruthless retaliation.
At the centre of this terror stands SS General Erwin Rösener, responsible for anti-partisan warfare in the region. Under his command, mass arrests, deportations, and executions become tools of control.
Rösener oversees the creation of the Slovene Home Guard, a collaborationist militia used to hunt resistance fighters. Working alongside the Gestapo—the Nazi secret police—his forces imprison thousands and carry out systematic killings.
In places like Maribor, prisoners and suspected supporters are executed as “reprisals,” their bodies buried in unmarked graves.
After the war, Rösener is captured, tried, and executed for his crimes.