By signing the Treaty of Rapallo, Žiri became a border town in 1920. The border between the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the Kingdom of Italy ran in the vicinity of Žiri along the ridge of Mrzli vrh, crossing Breznica, which became Italian, descended into Osojnica and then rose again to Spodnji Brsnik, and continued towards Spodnji Zavratec. While World War I only brushed this area - with delimitation - the maelstrom of World War II affected the locals from the very beginning. On Palm Sunday, April 6, 1941, wire posts were already installed at the main traffic points. On the same day, the locals started leaving the town out of fear of an Italian attack. On the second day of the war, public offices were withdrawn from the town and according to the announcement, the population was supposed to move to Dobrovo and Horjul. On April 8, the bridges were detonated and three days later, Žiri were occupied by the Italians. After the capitulation of Yugoslavia, the division of territory followed - the border between the German and Italian occupied territories ran from Mrzli vrh to Spodnji Vrsnik - that was the Rapallo border. At the boundary marker No. 40 the border split and cut another border into the Žiri territory, running from the tripoint (between Italy, Ljubljana region and the German occupied territory) on Spodnji Vrsnik and descending into Sovra and Brekovice, ascending over Martinška grapa to Opale and continued to Planina nad Horjulom through Račeva. After the partition, Žiri became a part of the German occupation zone and around 30 German Gendarmerie and financial guards settled in the educational centre on April 20. They started to conduct Germanisation policies. For instance, on the second day after assuming power, the Slovene inscriptions were replaced by the German ones. The population was also cut off from other areas since all connections to Vrhnika, Logatec and Idrija were closed off, with only the road to Škofja Loka remaining open. The changes came on October 23, 1943, when the German army withdrew from Žiri and the liberated territory was taken over the illegal partisan administration. The area was ravaged by the civil war and German offensives until the end of the war. Border tensions remained until the 1950s when the border issue between Italy and the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia was resolved. That the war profoundly affected the people of Žiri is evident from the fact that during World War II, 312 people lost their lives, which accounts for 9.6% of the population. This raises questions about how the population experienced the occupation, how they were affected by the partition, and how (if) the remains of the former border are still visible today.