Baza 20

Baza 20 (Base 20), which served between April 1943 and December 1944 as the living quarters for the political leadership of the Slovenian national liberation movement, is the only such secretively built and preserved headquarters of any resistance movement in Europe, and represents an important monument to Slovenia’s statehood. The role and importance of Baza 20 are presented today through a permanent exhibition in hut 16 (propaganda workers hut) at Baza 20. The exhibition showcases the military and political leadership of the resistance and describes the events that were most influenced by the leadership at Baza 20: the Kočevje assembly of delegates, the Črnomelj meeting of the SNOS (Slovenian National Liberation Council), printed matter, mass organisations, cooperation with allies and more.

Hut no. 22 (the new hut of the Executive Committee of the Liberation Front) houses a presentation of the extent and diversity of Partisan activities in the surrounding hills of Rog. Special attention is focused on the Rog hospital and workshops. These date back to June 1942, when the first hospital began operating at Daleč Hrib and the first workshops started up in the village of Podstenice. Both sites were burned down during the Rog offensive, so work was later started on the construction of what was termed the “conspiratorial” hospitals, while the mills and sawmills of Stare Žage were used as workshops. The presentation also covers the activities of the Scientific Institute, the Monetary Institute, the Education Section and the Culture Section at the presidency of the Slovenian National Liberation Council.

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The propaganda workers’ hut stands out from all the huts at Baza 20 owing to its number of windows

The present-day exhibition in the propaganda workers’ hut was set up to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War