Foibe : Nationalism,Revenge and Ideology in Venezia Giulia and Istria,1943—5

Abstract

This article deals with a little-known but controversial chapter of second world war history: the massacres, arrests and deportations Yugoslavs carried out against Italians in the Venezia Giulia region between 1943 and 1945. Many of the victims were thrown into natural cavities of the Carso region called foibe. It is argued that these events were neither simply the effect of an anti-fascist reprisal, nor an instance of planned ethnic cleansing against Italians. Rather, the article will explore the complex interplay of personal and collective revenge, national and ideological rivalry and policies of pre-emptive cleansing that led to mass persecution.