Yugoslav War Crimes Proceedings 2

[David Thompson]

Thanks for that information, Johaaanan.

[Johaaanan]

You are wellcome, David,

But I have to warn you- it is a thin ice thread this one...
Mostly because it connects directly to the two of the largest revisionist histories of our era, Croatian and Serbian contemporary ones. It will again mostly result in having at least two, sometimes even three ( including the earlier official communist ones ) oposite official stories for each character you asked about, you'll see. Therefore I'll try to deliver you only the info substantiated by still existing documents.

Further more the initial info you've been using wasn't totally precise at the time- it was filled by politicaly shaded info delivered by an enormous number of interested parties and mostly without any possibility to check the source because of the 'curtain' Yugoslavia had at the time. As an example:

Borich, Francis (?-1944) [Roman Catholic priest] -- Franciscan monk, Progomet town {reportedly shot as a Croat collaborator by Yugoslav partisans c. Dec 1944 (NYT 30 Dec 1944:6:8).}

is most probably a catholic priest Boric Nikola, b. 25 Feb 1891 in Brinj, d. 23 Sept 1980 in Zagreb, Croatia.

He spent the war in Zagreb, was also leading the Croatian branch of ''Caritas''. In 1945 he was arrested ( in connection with most of Ustasa's leaders escaping trough channels of this organisation ) and convicted to a term of 6 years of prison.
Released in Aug 1950, afterwards perormed different duties with Zagreb Archdiocese untill his death.

( Croatian Catholic Movement's ''Proceedings'', Zagreb- Krk 2001, printed by 'Krscanska sadasnjost' 2002, p. 789-847 )

[Johaaanan]

Cekada, Pavao – Yugoslav police chief {extradited by Hungary to Yugoslavia 9 Nov 1957 on charges of responsibility for over 50 tortures and murders of Serbs and Jews in 1941-1944 (NYT 10 Nov 1957:2:6); subsequent disposition unknown.}

never encontered anything about this.

[Johaaanan]

Cerkovnik, Franz -- Roman Catholic priest {arrested and put on trial on collaboration charges by a Yugoslav court; convicted and sentenced to death 24 Dec 1945 (NYT 27 Dec 1945 8:6); subsequent fate unknown.}

This would be a priest of the Archdiocese of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Peter Krizaj, b. 22 June 1913 in Moste, d. 20 Mar 1946, Ljubljana ( both Slovenia )

''Cerkovnik'' is a title ( priest ), Franz is frequently added to his title, on the net especially.
Not plenty on his prior life other than he became a priest in 1941. Served as 'kurat' ( army chaplain ) with Slovenian White Guard, and later Home Guard.
Name well known in Slovenia, trialed and convicted in the ''Christmass trials'' at Ljubljana County Court in 1945, but not only on collaboration charges. The primary charge was his work at Saint Urh Church ( infamous interrogation center of White and later Home Guard, a place of death of many Slovenian partisans and civillians ), and direct involvement in at least one case of murder ( a female partisan Ivana Bricelj Hrastarjeva ) and victims torturing ( Marija Stefancic, Erna Zrimsek, etc. ), and infamous fascist ''Christmass raids'' in 1942 at Slovenia.
Hanged on 20 Mar 1946 at the very spot- Urh, Ljubljana.

( Okrožno sodišče v Ljubljani, K 526/45 - County Court Ljubljana, c.n. 526/45 )

[Dr Eisvogel]

Cerkovnik, Franz -- Roman Catholic priest {arrested and put on trial on collaboration charges by a Yugoslav court; convicted and sentenced to death 24 Dec 1945 (NYT 27 Dec 1945 8:6); subsequent fate unknown.}

This would be a priest of the Archdiocese of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Peter Krizaj, b. 22 June 1913 in Moste, d. 20 Mar 1946, Ljubljana ( both Slovenia )

''Cerkovnik'' is a title ( priest ), Franz is frequently added to his title, on the net especially.
Not plenty on his prior life other than he became a priest in 1941. Served as 'kurat' ( army chaplain ) with Slovenian White Guard, and later Home Guard.
Name well known in Slovenia, trialed and convicted in the ''Christmass trials'' at Ljubljana County Court in 1945, but not only on collaboration charges. The primary charge was his work at Saint Urh Church ( infamous interrogation center of White and later Home Guard, a place of death of many Slovenian partisans and civillians ), and direct involvement in at least one case of murder ( a female partisan Ivana Bricelj Hrastarjeva ) and victims torturing ( Marija Stefancic, Erna Zrimsek, etc. ), and infamous fascist ''Christmass raids'' in 1942 at Slovenia.
Hanged on 20 Mar 1946 at the very spot- Urh, Ljubljana.

( Okrožno sodišče v Ljubljani, K 526/45 - County Court Ljubljana, c.n. 526/45 )

Sorry, it wouldn't.

Franc Cerkovnik is a real person, parish priest.

I can recommend a book by Dr. Tamara Griesser-Pečar: Cerkev na zatožni klopi => ("Church on the bench for the accused"), 2005, pp. 119-122 are about Franc Cerkovnik
Parts of it available on-line:
http://www.druzina.si/ICD/spletnastran. ... CERKEV.PDF
http://www.druzina.si/ICD/spletnastran. ... RISSER.PDF

Here is a link to the short article about Christmas trial published in the Slovenian Catholic weekly Družina ("Family").
http://www.druzina.si/icd/spletnastran. ... enDocument

It says:

...Cerkev na zatožni klopi, kjer ima posebno poglavje tudi t. i. božični proces. Na njem so namreč sodili tudi nekaterim duhovnikom: dr. Peter Križaj, vojaški kurat pri vaških stražah in domobrancih, in Franc Cerkovnik, župnik iz Šentjošta, sta bila obsojena na smrtno kazen (obe izvršeni: Križaj obešen, Cerkovnik ustreljen),...

Translation:
...Church on the bench for the accused, in which also the so called Christmas trial has a special chapter. On it also some clergy were tried: dr. Peter Križaj, military chaplain of the Village Guards and the Home Guard, and Franc Cerkovnik, parish priest from Šentjošt, were sentenced to the death penalty (both executed: Križaj hanged, Cerkovnik shot),...

And it continues:

Ob tako rekoč vseh navedenih primerih izvemo, da so na sodišču nastopale izključno obtežilne priče, ne pa tudi ljudje z obsežnih seznamov, ki so jih v potrditev svoje obrambe navajali obtoženci. V sodno dvorano so smeli samo tisti, ki so imeli vstopnico, te pa so delili okrožni odbori OF po svoji izbiri. Po nekaterih pričevanjih naj bi javni tožilec v procesu zbrane poslušalce pred procesom na dveh predhodnih sejah tudi »treniral«. Lahko si predstavljamo, kakšen je bil ta »trening« in čemu je bil namenjen. Oblast je, kot se za tak proces »spodobi«, poskrbela za primerno propagando. Časopisi in radio so, kot ugotavlja dr. Pečarjeva, spremljali proces in vnaprej pripravili teren za končno obsodbo, ki je bila tako ali tako že določena. Pri tej obsodbi pa je pomembno še nekaj. Tudi pri božičnem procesu so bili zbrani zelo različni ljudje, ki niso imeli veliko skupnega razen tega, da so bili vsi prepričani nasprotniki komunizma. Med njimi so bili, kot smo že zapisali, tudi predstavniki Cerkve, vendar ne zgolj zato, da bi jim dokazali individualno krivdo, kar je nujni pogoj kolikor toliko korektnega sodnega procesa, temveč so se na zatožni klopi večinoma znašli predvsem kot predstavniki določene organizacije, ki jo je nova oblast skušala uničiti ali vsaj onemogočiti.

Translation:
From basically all of the mentioned examples we get to know, that at the court exclusively persecution witnesses took stand, but not the people from the extensive lists, which were submitted by the accused as a proof of their defense. In the courtroom only those were allowed who had the entrance cards, which were distributed by the district committees of the OF (Osvobodilna fronta => "LIberation Front") on their own choice. According to some testimonies the public persecutor had "trained" the gathered audience at two preceding sessions. It is easy to imagine, what was the "training" and what was its purpose. The government has, as it was "appropriate" for such a trial, taken care of the adequate propaganda. The newspapers and the radio have, as dr.Pečar has found out, followed the process and in advance prepared the terrain for the final verdict, which was already decided. Regarding that verdict one other thing is important. Also at the Christmas trial different people were gathered, who didn't have nothing in common except the fact that they were all determined adversaries of Communism. Among them were, as already written, also the representatives of the Church, but not just to be proven with their individual guilt, which is the necessary condition of more or less correct judicial process, but they found themselves on the bench for the accused mostly as the representatives of the organization, which the new government tried to destroy or at least neutralize.

[Dr Eisvogel]

Borich, Francis (?-1944) [Roman Catholic priest] -- Franciscan monk, Progomet town {reportedly shot as a Croat collaborator by Yugoslav partisans c. Dec 1944 (NYT 30 Dec 1944:6:8).}

is most probably a catholic priest Boric Nikola, b. 25 Feb 1891 in Brinj, d. 23 Sept 1980 in Zagreb, Croatia.

He spent the war in Zagreb, was also leading the Croatian branch of ''Caritas''. In 1945 he was arrested ( in connection with most of Ustasa's leaders escaping trough channels of this organisation ) and convicted to a term of 6 years of prison.
Released in Aug 1950, afterwards perormed different duties with Zagreb Archdiocese untill his death.

( Croatian Catholic Movement's ''Proceedings'', Zagreb- Krk 2001, printed by 'Krscanska sadasnjost' 2002, p. 789-847 )

Sorry, it isn't.

It is Borić, fra Frano who was killed on November 4th 1944. He was a Franciscan friar, born on September 19th 1900, member of the Province of the Most Holy Redemptor (Latin language: Provincia Sanctissimi Redemptoris).
Picture at: http://www.franjevci-split.hr/index.php ... 8&Itemid=5
http://www.gospa-lurdska.hr/index.php?o ... &Itemid=50

[Dr Eisvogel]

Bogdan, Ivo -- Croatian national {sought by Yugoslavia as a war criminal; escaped to Argentina (NYT 14 Dec 1993:10:3).}

Ivo Bogdan
b. 30 Sept 1907, Sipan, present Croatia, d. 18 Aug 1971, Buenos Aires, Argentina

* A radical catholic and fascist from early youth.
* Started publishing and editing extreme right Ustasa's nationalist newspapers before the war ( ''Hrvatska Straza'', ''Hrvatski Narod'' ) and in 1942 ( ''Spremnost'' ).
* Known for celebrating Francisco Franko as a 'defender of the world' from communist devils and USSR.
* Also known as the supreme propaganda ideologist of ISC, covering both press and radio editions ( ''Spremnost'' was actually the only weekly newspapers in ISC- all others were forbidden ).
* On 28 Jan 1944 officialy named as ''propaganda and censorship director'' of ISC hence becoming the official Croatian Goebells.
* Wrote articles about the ''...absolute need to defend ISC from communists, Jews and Masons...'' ( ''Spremnost'', 13 Sept 1942 )
* Escaped to Viena- Vatican- Argentina. There he started a publishing project along with some other Croation journalist ( ''Studiocroatica'' ) which he ran untill allegedly assasinated in his aprtment in Buenos Aires by Yugoslav security agencies on 18 Aug 1971.

( ''Bibliography of Periodicals of ISC 1941—1945'', compiled in the former Archive for the History of Labour Movement in Zagreb, a copy kept in The Museum of Srem in Sremska Mitrovica (Historical Section, Collection of Documents, reg. no 1615/62) ; ''Radical Catholicism and Fascism in Croatia, 1918-1945'', prof. Mark Biondich, Department of Justice Canada, Ottawa ISSN: 1743-9647 ; ''Le genocide occulte (Etat Independant de Croatie 1941-1945)'', Marco Aurelio Rivelli )

He was born in Suđurađ, on the island of Šipan, near Dubrovnik.

Well, in his early youth he wrote articles for Narodna politika, newspaper of the Croatian People's Party (Hrvatska pučka stranka=HPS), which was anything but Fascist and radical. It is the same party, which was one of the few on the Croatian political scene, which collaborated with Karageorgevitch dynasty as early as 1920/21, when they took part in the work of the Constituent Assembly longer than any other Croat party and they even formed a joint parliamentary club with Slovene People's Party (Slovenska ljudska stranka=SLS). So, they are hardly die-hard nationalist. Also, after the Assassination in Parliament in 1928 the party entered the Government formed by Anton Korošec, by which they lost any standing in Croatian public and Bogdan dissociated from them.

He adopted fascist views later, after Stjepan Radić, the leader of the biggest Croatian party (Hrvatska seljačka stranka=HSS) was shot (and died after month and a half) in the Parliament in Belgrade in 1928 along with his colleagues who died instantly and after on January 6th 1929 king Alexander of Yugoslavia abolished the Constitution and democracy and put the leaders of Croatian parties in prison. Only in those circumstances did he change his erstwhile democratic views into fascist ones.

It's not "Studiocroatica", but "Studia Croatica".

Source: Tko je tko u NDH, Zagreb, 1997, p. 43 for Ivo Bogdan
and Hrvatski lekiskon, Zagreb, 1996, p. 471 for Croatian People's Party

[paolosilv]

Here's a few names I found:
Hellmuth Raithel, commander of Regiment 28 of Handschar, was appointed the commanding officer. died, 1990
source: Serbianna, Carl Savitch.

SS-Ostuf Alexander Michawetz, escaped.

Dr. Alija Šuljak managed to escape via Italy to Syria.
yours, Paolo

[Johaaanan]

Sorry, it wouldn't.

Franc Cerkovnik is a real person, parish priest.

I can recommend a book by Dr. Tamara Griesser-Pečar: Cerkev na zatožni klopi => ("Church on the bench for the accused"), 2005, pp. 119-122 are about Franc Cerkovnik
Parts of it available on-line:
http://www.druzina.si/ICD/spletnastran. ... CERKEV.PDF
http://www.druzina.si/ICD/spletnastran. ... RISSER.PDF

Here is a link to the short article about Christmas trial published in the Slovenian Catholic weekly Družina ("Family").
http://www.druzina.si/icd/spletnastran. ... enDocument

Dr. Eisvogel,

Thank you very much for your corrections on the issue.

The fact which misslead me to confuse the two was that they were trialed under the same case number ( K 526/45 ), where the case was officialy named 'Krizaj, Peter' ( without adding '...and others' as usual when there were more accused ), while on the other side at the list of convictions of Ljubljana District Court under the same case number there is a death verdict for 'Cerkovnik, Krizaj Peter', without any clear distinction between the two.

It'll also be a pleasure to read the text you recommended. I have to mention that I had encountered the same claims about the 'Christmas trials' given from a number of other authors.
Since David was asking about the subsequent fate of those people it was my personal choice to deliver only the info I had about that. Therefore I restrained ( and shall restrain ) myself from passing any other kind of judgements about fairness/unfairness connected to this issue and such issues in general.
Hence I haven't elaborated on those claims just the same as I haven't elaborated on the claims made by other authors that 'the basic evidence at the trials was coming from official italian and German documents', 'that the statement of Italian civil comissair Cassavega which was used as hard evidence of persecution still stands', 'that mothers used to scare their children with names such as Peter Krizaj for long after the war', etc.
In other words, it was my intention not to enter the 'judgement' side of the issue here but only to deliver the 'raw' info to the best of my knowledge.

[Johaaanan]

Sorry, it isn't.

It is Borić, fra Frano who was killed on November 4th 1944. He was a Franciscan friar, born on September 19th 1900, member of the Province of the Most Holy Redemptor (Latin language: Provincia Sanctissimi Redemptoris).
Picture at: http://www.franjevci-split.hr/index.php ... 8&Itemid=5
http://www.gospa-lurdska.hr/index.php?o ... &Itemid=50

The pretext '...most probably...' was given as a hint that it might be someone else.

The source used comes directly from the Croatian Catholic Church, and in my personal opinion represents the utmost objectivity on the matter of communist's proscriptions of the catholic clergy in Croatia. In their extensive works on the issue I haven't encountered any info about Boric Frano and therefore I named the closest name with a clear hint that it might be another person.

[Johaaanan]

As for the estimations given for Ivo Bogdan I believe this thread isn't the right place to enter the discussion about Croation political fragmentation in Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians and later, Populists and other parties, shifting from democracy to radicality, totalitarianism and criminality, etc.
If there is some other thread where we could exchange views on the issue it would be a pleasure to elaborate and discuss it some more with you, with adding some other authors such as proffesors Mark Biondich or Vjeran Pavlakovic to the 'Croatian Lexicon' and 'Who is who in Croatia' books as sources.

I sincerely apologise for the spelling mistake with the name of the organisation in Argentina.

Respect,

Ivan

[Johaaanan]

Given the fact which I have already mentioned that the thread is a 'sensitive' one, meaning that there might be a bit of confusion and oposite claims about same persons, and considering the fact that some of the viewers come from another parts of the world and cannot have a full understanding of our contemporary situation ( because their 'histories' seem easier and clear, with no revisions and undocumented 'memories and oblivions' ), I'd like to try to elaborate it with a true anecdote of my own family, with moderators hopefully forgiving me for the excursion.

It concerns my maternal Grandfather, from southern Serbia, which died in a plowing accident on June 12, 1946 ( the ox he used for plowing actually killed him ).
In 1962 in the small village close to there his name was posted along with 12 others on the monument table as a victim of a 'cetniks massacre' in 1944. This table was removed in 2008.
In 2009 his name was posted along with 17 others on the monument table as a victim of a 'communist massacre' in 1947, this time in a village a bit more far away from his home.

While it may sound funny to someone, for me personaly it is a sad picture of our former and present actions here at the Balkans, and also the basic reason why I mostly tend to rely upon the foreign sources of our own history, Axis especially.
It also represents the situation which may often ocur at this thread, especially with persons such as my favorite Nikola Kalabic to which we'll come later- a man with 3 official deaths...

Respect again,

Ivan

[Johaaanan]

Once again, a bit off topic example ( for the last time, I promise ) which may serve to make the contemporary historical science situation here closer to the 'outsiders', and which can also explain why one should be very carefull when forming an opinion on such issues at this thread.

It concerns the issue of communist proscriptions of catholic clergy in Croatia.
The story goes of one Rihar Franjo, a catholic priest killed during the war.

If you check the list of catholic clergy killed by communists made by a priest Anto Bakovic ( a book ''Hrvatski martirologij XX. stoljeća'' - Croatian Martyrs of XX century, officialy introduced as a 1000 pages history masterpiece on the issue, names may be found at http://katolik.jimdo.com/mu%C4%8Denici-crkve-u-hrvata/ ) you'll see that Rihar Franjo was named as number 286.

On the other hand, if you have read transcripts from the court trial of the Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac in post war Yugoslavia, you may notice in the list of evidence ( defence file n. 6.18.2 ) a letter of interior minister of ISC Andrija Artukovic to the Arcbishop, dated Nov 17, 1942, in which he writes:

''In connection with your esteemed request of 2nd November 1942, notice is hearby given that Franjo Rihar, by the decree of this office of 20th April 1942, no 26417/1942 was sentenced to forced detention in the concentration camp at Jasenovac for the period of three years... because as pastor of Gornja Stubica he did not celebrate a solemn high mass on the anniversary of the founding of the Independent State of Croatia... nor did he consent to sing the psalm Te Deum Laudamus, saying that it was nowhere prescribed in ecclesiastical usage...''

The fate of Franjo Rihar and his death in the concentration camp Jasenovac was also actually well described in ''The Sub-prefect Should Have Held His Tongue'' (London, 1990), p 288., by Butler, Hubert.
Furthermore the letter of Artukovic has been published in Croatia ( a list of documents used by defence at Archbishop's Stepinac trial, I believe Fontes was the publisher as I recall ).

Whether the mistake was intentional or not it only proves the need to be careful when judging matters of such nature.
It is also clear that unfortunatelly a very small number of simmilar issues is documented and therefore can be verified beyond any doubt. This goes for all sides of the region- unfortunatelly our contemporary history is filled with undocumented but still official versions of events which were regarded diferently in the prior time...

Please do not think that I used this example to try to dispute the earlier claim about the priest Franjo Boric or anything simillar to that.
My point would be that we just need to be very careful when judging such matters and seaking evidence of the truth which we try to pass to others, which are unfortunatelly very often missing in our countries and our times.

Respect.

[Dr Eisvogel]

It concerns the issue of communist proscriptions of catholic clergy in Croatia.
The story goes of one Rihar Franjo, a catholic priest killed during the war.

If you check the list of catholic clergy killed by communists made by a priest Anto Bakovic ( a book ''Hrvatski martirologij XX. stoljeća'' - Croatian Martyrs of XX century, officialy introduced as a 1000 pages history masterpiece on the issue, names may be found at http://katolik.jimdo.com/mu%C4%8Denici-crkve-u-hrvata/ ) you'll see that Rihar Franjo was named as number 286.

On the other hand, if you have read transcripts from the court trial of the Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac in post war Yugoslavia, you may notice in the list of evidence ( defence file n. 6.18.2 ) a letter of interior minister of ISC Andrija Artukovic to the Arcbishop, dated Nov 17, 1942, in which he writes:

''In connection with your esteemed request of 2nd November 1942, notice is hearby given that Franjo Rihar, by the decree of this office of 20th April 1942, no 26417/1942 was sentenced to forced detention in the concentration camp at Jasenovac for the period of three years... because as pastor of Gornja Stubica he did not celebrate a solemn high mass on the anniversary of the founding of the Independent State of Croatia... nor did he consent to sing the psalm Te Deum Laudamus, saying that it was nowhere prescribed in ecclesiastical usage...''

The fate of Franjo Rihar and his death in the concentration camp Jasenovac was also actually well described in ''The Sub-prefect Should Have Held His Tongue'' (London, 1990), p 288., by Butler, Hubert.
Furthermore the letter of Artukovic has been published in Croatia ( a list of documents used by defence at Archbishop's Stepinac trial, I believe Fontes was the publisher as I recall ).

Hi Johaaanan,

I think you should read 'Hrvatski martirologij XX. stoljeća'' - "Croatian Martyrology of the XX century" once again. You'll see that the subtitle of the book is "HRVATSKI KATOLIČKI SVEĆENICI - MUČENICI I ŽRTVE TOTALITARNIH REŽIMA XX. STOLJEĆA" => "Croatian Catholic priests - martyrs and victims of the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century". Franjo Rihar is listed as one of the 11 priests, for whose death the NDH Ustasha regime was responsible. So, the fact that he is number 286 doesn't imply that he is the victim of the communists, but that he is the victim of a totalitarian regime, which he is. And even the link you posted says so (victims of the totalitarian regimes). You might have been puzzled by the introduction which refers to the youtube video (interview with Baković), which indeed mentions just the communist victims.

So, the Baković numbers are according to the side which killed the clergy:

Communist Partisans until May 9th 1945: 240
Communists after the end of the war: 263
JNA (while serving in Yugoslav (People's) Army): 12
Total killed by Yugoslav Communists: 515
Chetniks: 37
Allied (Anglo-American) air bombing: 32
Typhoid: 17
German armed forces: 16
NDH authorities: 11
Serb authorities in Croatia as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1990-ies: 9
Unknown: 8
Soviet Red Army: 5
Kingdom of Yugoslavia: 4
Communist Albania: 4
Bosnian Muslim armed forces in 1990-ies: 3
Italian armed forces: 2
Total: 663 Croatian clergy killed in 20th century

Secondly, despite the limitations of the Yugoslav Communist historiography and its Balkan successors (such as Serbian historiography etc.), modern Croatian historiography is serious and founded on the use and critique of the primary sources, and it communicates with the Western world extensively. Also, the articles are peer reviewed and there isn't any more neither outright censorship nor self-censorship as there was in communist Yugoslavia. I think the freedom in Croatia is an established fact and additionally confirmed by the fact that EU invited Croatia to join it, after the negotiations have finished, which is OT, but it's useful to know.

The fate of Franjo Rihar is well known in Croatia, so I can provide a photo of him from the official Croatian site maintained by the Jasenovac Memorial Centre (JUSP): http://www.jusp-jasenovac.hr/Default.aspx?sid=7508

Also, there is an article about him and other Catholic clergy, martyrs from Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška concentration camps in a Croatian Catholic magazine Katolički tjednik: http://www.katolicki-tjednik.com/vijest.asp?n_UID=764

Best regards,
Eisvogel

[Dr Eisvogel]

Dr. Eisvogel,

Thank you very much for your corrections on the issue.

The fact which misslead me to confuse the two was that they were trialed under the same case number ( K 526/45 ), where the case was officialy named 'Krizaj, Peter' ( without adding '...and others' as usual when there were more accused ), while on the other side at the list of convictions of Ljubljana District Court under the same case number there is a death verdict for 'Cerkovnik, Krizaj Peter', without any clear distinction between the two.

It'll also be a pleasure to read the text you recommended. I have to mention that I had encountered the same claims about the 'Christmas trials' given from a number of other authors.
Since David was asking about the subsequent fate of those people it was my personal choice to deliver only the info I had about that. Therefore I restrained ( and shall restrain ) myself from passing any other kind of judgements about fairness/unfairness connected to this issue and such issues in general.
Hence I haven't elaborated on those claims just the same as I haven't elaborated on the claims made by other authors that 'the basic evidence at the trials was coming from official italian and German documents', 'that the statement of Italian civil comissair Cassavega which was used as hard evidence of persecution still stands', 'that mothers used to scare their children with names such as Peter Krizaj for long after the war', etc.
In other words, it was my intention not to enter the 'judgement' side of the issue here but only to deliver the 'raw' info to the best of my knowledge.

The book by Dr. Tamara Griesser-Pečar is a fundamental piece on the topic of the Yugoslav Communist persecution of the Catholic Church in Slovenia.
I will just add that only about Christmas Process/Trial she wrote 29 pages, out of these 4 are about Franc Cerkovnik, while 8 pages concern Peter Križaj.

I would say she addresses the veracity of the evidence used by persecution.

You are free to quote the authors of the sentences you quoted, although claim 'that mothers used to scare their children with names such as Peter Krizaj for long after the war' disqualify author, whoever he is, as a cheap propagandist.

There is no doubt, that Peter Križaj was hated by the Communists, but this sentence is not relevant for the question what he did.

You can see the photo of Peter Križaj during trial on the poster prepaired for the exhibition "Battle against Religion and Church" concerning communist persecution of the Catholic Church in Slovenia. http://kp.rkc.si/dokumenti/zlozenka.pdf
As an illustration of the extreme violence of the Yugoslav communists there is also photo on the poster of the auxiliary bishop of Ljubljana, Anton Vovk, who was burned by Communist activists in 1952.


Another link to Peter Križaj's photo: http://www.dnevnik.si/tiskane_izdaje/dnevnik/266747/
Best regards,
Eisvogel