ABSTRACT
Religious conversions in the northernmost part of interwar Yugoslavia often raised suspicions, particularly among the Catholic majority. Converts were seen as rare and “aberrant” phenomena, yet their decisions were perceived as potential threats to religious and national unity. The conviction that “true Slovenians” can only be Catholics, particularly among the Catholic Right, demonstrated the intertwining of national and religious identity. Converts to the German Evangelical Church or Serbian Orthodoxy further disconcerted this dynamic. German Lutherans sought to recruit German Catholics to bolster their community, using the slogan “To be Lutheran means to be German,” while Serbian Orthodox propaganda framed Orthodoxy as truly loyal to Yugoslavia, contrasting it with Catholicism, which it portrayed as detrimental to the national cause. This led to tensions, particularly as some local converts sought greater inclusion of Slovenian cultural elements in their practices. German Evangelicals, meanwhile, largely assimilated or emigrated, with those remaining often well integrated in their communities due to past mass conversions during the “Away from Rome” movement. By the late 1930s, rising nationalism created challenges for converts and religious minorities, with pressures being exacerbated by cultural differences and the radicalization that was characteristic of the era, leading to internal divisions and external scrutiny, especially as nationalist ideologies gained prominence before World War II.
