Editing Celje (section)

===Second World War===
Celje was occupied by [[Nazi Germany]] in April 1941. The [[Gestapo]] arrived in Celje on 16 April 1941 and were followed three days later by [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] leader [[Heinrich Himmler]], who inspected ''Stari pisker'' prison. During the war, the city suffered from [[Allies of World War II|allied]] [[Aerial warfare#World War II|bombing]], aimed at important communication lines and military installations. The [[Celje National Hall|National Hall]] was severely damaged.

The toll of the war on the city was heavy. The city (including nearby towns) had a pre-war population of 20,000 and lost 575 people during the war, mostly between the ages of 20 and 30. More than 1,500 people were deported to [[Serbia]] or into the German interior of the [[Nazi Germany|Third Reich]]. Around 300 people were interned and around 1,000 people imprisoned in Celje's prisons. An unknown number of citizens were forcibly conscripted into the [[Wehrmacht|German army]]. Around 600 "stolen children" were taken to Nazi Germany for [[Germanization]]. A monument in Celje called ''Vojna in mir'' (War and Peace) by the sculptor [[Jakob Savinšek]], commemorates the World War II era.

After the end of the war, the remaining German-speaking portion of the populace was [[Expulsion of Germans after World War II|expelled]]. Anti-tank [[Trench warfare|trenches]] and other sites were used to create 25 [[mass graves in Celje]] and its immediate surroundings and were filled with [[Croatia]]n, Serbian, and Slovenian militia members that had collaborated with the Germans, as well as ethnic German civilians from Celje and surrounding areas.