Die (un)bekannten Gottscheer: Von der gedruckten Geschichte zur virtuellen Heimat
The (not so) Well-Known Kočevars: From Printed History to Virtual Homeland

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with Kočevska and the Kočevars (Ger. Gottscheer), who moved to this region in the 14th century. In 1941 Hitler ordered them to resettle to the Third Reich (“Heims ins Reich”). They had to leave their homes and villages; now forests cover their life stories. The paper discusses three aspects of the Kočevar past: first a sketch of the rich journalistic activity in Kočevska and the papers printed in Josef pavličeK’s printing works in Kočevje, which is followed by an analysis of a literary approach to the presentation of the lives, works and fates of the Kočevars by Karl-Markus Gauß, whose work shows again and again how the concrete can illustrate the generally known. And vice versa: Rounding off the paper is a very personal, particular life story, a prototype of sorts for Kočevar fates in general. Today, Kočevars are scattered around the world, but they have found a new, virtual homeland in a modern medium, the web.

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