• Loibl Süd Concentration Camp Memorial
A memorial on the Slovenian side of the Loibl Pass commemorates the victims of the Loibl Süd forced labour camp, which existed between 1943 and 1945. The inmates of the camp had to carry out forced labour on the construction site of the Loibl tunnel.
Image: Loibl, 1943, View of the Loibl Süd concentration camp, Mauthausen Komitee Kärnten
Loibl, 1943, View of the Loibl Süd concentration camp, Mauthausen Komitee Kärnten

Image: Loibl Pass, 2002, Monument during a commemorative ceremony, Peter Gstettner
Loibl Pass, 2002, Monument during a commemorative ceremony, Peter Gstettner
The Loibl Pass (Slovene: Ljubelj) crosses the Karavanke Alpine mountain range, connecting Austrian Upper Carniola and Slovenian Gorejnska. From 1941/1942 on, Organisation Todt, an engineering and construction unit organized in military fashion, and a civilian firm began building a tunnel across the Karavanke chain. The tunnel was dug from two sides: in the north on the Austrian side and on the Slovene side in the south, which had since 1941 been under German occupation. In June 1943, the SS established a subcamp of the Mauthausen concentration camp on the Slovenian side; in October 1943, a further subcamp was set up on the northern side of the Loibl Pass. The first approximately 330 prisoners, mostly Frenchmen, reached Loibl Süd (the southern camp) at the beginning of June 1942. Prisoner numbers at both Loibl camps rose steadily until September 1944 to a total of about 1,300. The prisoners were deployed in forced labour as miners, constructing the tunnel. A prisoner unit was also used to erect the northern camp, which was completed by October 1943. The first Wehrmacht vehicles passed through the tunnel in December 1944, and not long afterwards, the tunnel was crucial in the retreat of the Wehrmacht from the Balkans. The SS dismantled the northern camp in April 1945, and the prisoners were moved to Loibl Süd. At the beginning of May, partisans liberated the approximately 950 remaining prisoners of the southern camp.
Image: Loibl, 1943, View of the Loibl Süd concentration camp, Mauthausen Komitee Kärnten
Loibl, 1943, View of the Loibl Süd concentration camp, Mauthausen Komitee Kärnten

Image: Loibl Pass, 2002, Monument during a commemorative ceremony, Peter Gstettner
Loibl Pass, 2002, Monument during a commemorative ceremony, Peter Gstettner
The exact number of prisoners to pass through the Loibl Süd camp is not known. The inmates were transferred to the two Loibl camps from the Mauthausen concentration camp. Most of them were Frenchmen. Poles were the second-largest group with about 500 prisoners, while there were also many Soviet and Yugoslav prisoners in both camps.
Image: Loibl Pass, 2006, Remains of the camp crematorium, Daniel Magnfält
Loibl Pass, 2006, Remains of the camp crematorium, Daniel Magnfält

Image: Loibl Pass, 2002, Commemorative ceremony on the former camp premises, Peter Gstettner
Loibl Pass, 2002, Commemorative ceremony on the former camp premises, Peter Gstettner
Between 1945 and 1950, the old Loibl Pass border crossing between Austria and communist Yugoslavia was closed. The tunnel was opened in 1967. Since then, the old road over the mountain pass has been closed for traffic.
A memorial was dedicated on the Slovenian side on August 8, 1954. The complex was designed by architect Boris Kobe. A metal sculpture of a skeleton raising its arms to the sky was created by sculptor Jože Bertoncelj. In 1999, Slovenia - which became an independent state in 1991 - placed the area under monumental protection. The following year, a small permanent exhibition was opened in the basement of a nearby motorway service station.
Image: Loibl Pass, 2006, View of the memorial complex, Daniel Magnfält
Loibl Pass, 2006, View of the memorial complex, Daniel Magnfält

Image: Loibl Pass, 2006, Statue by sculptor Jože Bertoncelj, Daniel Magnfält
Loibl Pass, 2006, Statue by sculptor Jože Bertoncelj, Daniel Magnfält
Name
Spominski park taborišča Mauthausen-Ljubelj
Address
Loiblpassstraße
Podljubelj
Phone
+43 (0)463 270 0-123 1
Fax
+43 (0)463 270 0-129 9
Web
http://loibl-memorial.uni-klu.ac.at
E-Mail
peter.gstettner@uni-klu.ac.at
Open
The memorial is accessible at all times.