Cultural silence (Slovene:kulturni molk) was theboycott, ordered in January 1942 by the communist-dominatedSlovene Liberation Front (OF),[1] of all cultural activities and events connected with the German and Italianannexation of Slovenia because theAxis powers authorities limited or forbade cultural activities inSlovene. It was symbolically announced at a concert in the Union Hall inLjubljana with the popular songThe Lime Tree Is in Leaf (Lipa zelenela je). After thecapitulation of Italy in 1943, it meant a complete stop to all cultural activity outside the OF.[2]
On 23 January 1943, it was breached by theAcademy of Sciences and Arts[how?].[1] In 1944, 110anticommunist authors published the almanacHelp in the Winter (Zimska pomoč) in protest against the policy.[2] The cultural silence postponed the release of the 1941 documentary filmO, Vrba until August 1945.
The "cultural silence" was never precisely defined, and after the war the communist authorities used it as a weapon to exact revenge on cultural figures that were deemed undesirable while turning a blind eye to the wartime activity of other cultural figures.[3]
The former Yugoslavia's diverse peoples: a reference sourcebook.