| Battle of Kočevje | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofWorld War II in Yugoslavia | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Tone Tomšič Brigade,Ljubo Šercer Brigade,Loška Brigade | 150 German police and some 100Slovene Home Guard members | ||||||
TheBattle of Kočevje (Slovene:bitka za Kočevje) was an encounter between theSlovene Partisans, the armed wing of the pro-AlliesLiberation Front of the Slovene People and on the other hand theGerman occupying forces and the pro-AxisSlovene Home Guard inOperational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral duringWorld War II.
Under the command ofMirko Bračič at midnight on 9 December 1943 the town ofKočevje (German: Gotschee) was attacked by three Slovene Partisans brigades. The attack was supported by the partisan artillery and mortars.
The Kočevje mine, student hostel, school and some other important buildings in the city were captured by the partisans. The remnants of the German-Home Guard garrison retreated into the Gotschee Castle where it remained protected by its thick walls until two German relief columns under the command ofOskar von Niedermayer came from Ljubljana and broke the partisan encirclement, rescuing the besieged German garrison on 12 December 1943.[1]