The Nizkor Project: Remembering the Holocaust (Shoah)

The Skinhead International: Slovenia


Slovenian Skinheads have stated that they first appeared in public in 1984, when the country was still part of Yugoslavia. A small group of them began to hang around the punk scene, frequenting music clubs in the capital city, Ljubljana. As their number grew, the Skinheads took to congregating on Friday nights in pubs in Ljubljana. Most Skins were from southern Slovenia, but some traveled from other parts of the country to attend the gatherings. The handgouts would change when their trouble-making caused them to be banned from particular pubs. They also developed a reputation for starting fights at concerts around the city.

One incident in 1989 brought the Slovenian Skinheads much attention. Fighting broke out at a concert billed as "New Rock," attended by some 2,500 young people, most of them punk rockers, hippies, and heavy metal fans, but also some 25 Skinheads. A heavy metal fan was killed, and the police arrested approximately 15 Skinheads. Slovenian Skins claim that the publicity about this incident resulted in a substantial increase in membership.

Today, the Skinhead scene remains cerntered primarily in the capital. Skins belong to a Slovenian National Socialist movement known as Mladi Domobran (Young Militia Men or Home Guard), which borrows its name from World War II-era Slovenian Nazis. They distribute a propaganda organ called _Rudi_, which promotes their ultranationalist and extremist views.

The xenophibic Slovenian National Party (SNS), led by Zmago Jelincic, reportedly has sought to attract Skinheads and other right-wing young people to its ranks. The SNS, using the slogan "Slovenia for the Slovenes," won 9.9 percent of the vote in elections for the national State Assembly in December 1992, entitling it to 12 of the Assembly's 90 seats. Recent opinion polls, however, indicate the party's support has slipped considerably. (Anti-Defamation League, 64)

Work Cited

Anti-Defamation League. The Skinhead International: A Worldwide Survey of Neo-Nazi Skinheads. New York: Anti-Defamation League, 1995. Anti-Defamation League, 823 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017.


Disclaimer: not all skinheads are neo-nazis or white supremacists. There are many skinheads who are non- or anti-racist, and who come from a variety of different religious and cultural backgrounds. Nizkor recognizes their achievements in anti-racism: they are part of the traditional, non-racist skinhead subculture and are not the perpetrators of the hate crimes discussed here.

Unless otherwise specified, the word "skinhead" within these pages refers only to neo-Nazi and white supremacist skinheads, the perpetrators of hate crimes and participants in racist organizations. We cannot edit the body of the text above, because it was not written by Nizkor, and to change the wording would be fraudulent. Please keep in mind that not all skinheads are racist.


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