Mass graves in Slovenia were created in Slovenia as the result of extrajudicial killings during and after the Second World War. These clandestine mass graves are also known as "concealed mass graves" () or "silenced mass graves" () because their existence was concealed under the communist regime from 1945 to 1990.Ferenc, Mitja, & Ksenija Kovačec-Naglič. 2005. Prikrito in očem zakrito: prikrita grobišča 60 let po koncu druge svetovne vojne. Ljubljana: Muzej novejše zgodovine.
Some of the sites, such as the mass graves in Maribor, include some of the largest mass graves in Europe.Ferenc, Mitja. 2012. "Independent Slovenia and Concealed Mass Graves." In Janez Juhant & Bojan Žalec (eds.), Reconciliation: The Way of Healing and Growth, pp. 233–240. Zurich: Lit Verlag, p. 236. Over 750 such sites have been registered by the Commission on Concealed Mass Graves in Slovenia, containing the remains of up to 100,000 victims."U 581 grobnici je 100.000 žrtava." 2009. Jutarnji list. (1 October). They have been compared by the Slovenian historian Jože Dežman to the Killing Fields in Cambodia.
Background Many of the mass graves were created during the war, but the larger sites date from after the war. The wartime graves vary from those of soldiers killed in battle to groups that were targeted by the Partisans due to their ethnicity (e.g., Romani)"Genocid nad Cigani na Blokah in v Iški", Zaveza 43 (February 25, 2010) Diricchardi-Muzga, Rinaldo. Kraintike Sinti estraiharia (2010). Ljubljana: Zveza romskih skupnosti Umbrella-Dežnik and Anglunipe-RIC (pg. 94); accessed May 26, 2018.Sajovic, Bogdan. "Preberite v novi Demokraciji: Komunistični genocid nad Cigani", Demokracija, September 7, 2013.Dežman, Jože. "Poročilo Komisije Vlade RS za reševanje vprašanj prikritih grobišč v mandatu 2005–2008", October 14, 2008 (press conference). or other civilians murdered for political reasons.
The postwar graves from the Bleiburg repatriations contain the remains of suspected collaborators, soldiers, and civilians that fled towards Austria in May and June 1945, as well as groups targeted because of their ethnicity (e.g., Gottschee Germans, Hungarians, and Italians).Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien, vol. 2: Erlebnisberichte über die Verbrechen an den Deutschen durch das Tito-Regime in der Zeit von 1944–1948. 1994. Munich: Donauschwäbische Kulturstiftung, p. 913.Tschinkel, Wilhelm (eds. Alojzij Pavel Florjančič & Marija Stanonin), Gottscheer Volkstum in Sitte, Brauch, Märchen, Sagen, Legenden und anderen volkstümlichen Überlieferungen, Ljubljana: Inštitut za slovensko narodopisje ZRC SAZU, 2004, pg. 618.Mikola, Milko (ed. Peter Jambrek) "Concentration and Labour Camps in Slovenia" , Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes, pp. 145–54. Ljubljana: Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union; accessed May 26, 2018. and civilians that were the victims of political purgesFlorjančič, Alojzij Pavel. "Povojna grobišča v Crngrobu", Loški razgledi 48: 217–44, pg. 232, (2001) or marked as "class enemies" to eliminate potential opponents to the new regime.Lotmerški "Momento more": Prikrito vojno grobišče v Babjem Ložiču v Ljutomeru; accessed May 26, 2018.
After the war, the communist authorities denied that the executions had taken place. Attempts to reveal the events were suppressed, evidence was destroyed, and no exhumations took place."World War II mass grave found in Slovenia", BBC News, September 7, 2010. People were forbidden from visiting the graves, and many were hidden under waste.
After the collapse of Yugoslavia, researchers in Slovenia started writing about the executions and exhumations were undertaken. However, some left-wing parties, in particular the Social Democrats, have been accused of stalling such investigations.
List of graves This table includes mass graves and individual graves registered by the Commission on Concealed Mass Graves in Slovenia.Lokacije prikritih vojnih grobišč on Geopedia.si. Služba za vojna grobišča, Ministrstvo za delo, družino in socialne zadeve, December 2009. Some names are synonyms. The label "soldiers" includes prisoners of war.