Franc Šali, Veliki Podljuben

Monument made from unprocessed stone with a white inscription plate, dedicated to five partisans who fell at this location in July 1943. The monument was erected in 1979.

The monument is located at the place where on 10 July 1943, during an unexpected attack by Italian soldiers and White Guards, the first fighter Franc Šali from Vavte village fell. Nearby, during other encounters with the enemy, other fighters of the Liberation Front also fell.

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»10. July 1943 was a hot summer day. A larger patrol of Italian soldiers and White Guards came into the village from the terrifying direction and from the upper end of the village. There were several partisans and activists of the Liberation Front in the village. The machine gun and a few rifles opened fire. Under the gunfire, the first fighter Franc Šali from Vavte village fell. Close to the place where the monument is now. They fired individual shots around the village. They caught three men. One was lucky, but two young boys from Veliki Podljuban were brutally killed on their way out of the village towards Ušivec near Babje hrib.

This was a sad day for the families of the victims and the villagers. It was also a great loss for the partisan movement and the local organization of the Liberation Front, since Hrovat and Gašper were their activists, and Šali was the organizer of the partisan resistance. The war turmoil affected many families and many lost several members during that cruel time. Some did not even know why they had to die.

We asked older villagers if they still remembered those days and events and whether the younger ones knew about this tragedy.

Kristina Škufca still vividly remembers that day. She said: 'On that July day there were three partisans at our place. They were hiding under our kitchen table near the house. Kulovčev Franci from Vavte village, Košakova Vida and Novega mesta, and one more, I have forgotten his name. With my sister Danica, we were just on the field. I was digging potatoes, while she was a bit higher gathering beans for supper, when my sister saw a group of soldiers coming from the forest and passing through the fields above our homes, and she shouted: 'Partisans, run, the 'tables' are coming!' The partisans heard the warning and immediately retreated into the forest above the village and left to avoid confrontation. The warning was also heard by one White Guard, who wanted to shoot my sister, but his gun jammed. He was very angry and threatened both of us. We were driven deep into the village, where they threatened us and shouted at us. Older women rescued us, telling the soldiers that the children had done nothing wrong and asking them to let us be in peace.

During the entry into the village, the soldiers surprised Franc Šali, a partisan who had brought propaganda material to some families. Šali tried to hide in Šmajdkovo village, where the soldiers found him and killed him on the edge of the village where he lay dead. The soldiers had a picture of Šali with his wife and son and asked if we had seen the man in the picture and whether we recognized him. We had to act as if we did not recognize him.In the soldiers saw two people on the meadow near Plantanov in the lower part of the village, who were drying hay and trying to hide and avoid meeting the soldiers, but they caught them and took them together with the Plantan owner away with them. For Plantan, his wife went with three small children and kept asking, to let her husband go free. The Italian soldier, who led Plantan out of the village with the task to shoot him, was merciful and shot into the air, letting the captured Plantan live. Much worse it was for Gašper and Hrovat. They were taken away with them, during the journey they were beaten with rifle butts and kicked. They were killed near the present-day stone slab on Babji Hill and left lying there. They reported where they were. None of them was shot. All the killed were later buried by their families. Šalija were buried in Vavti village. Hrovat and Gašper lay together on a pair of coffins at home and the villagers went to mourn. They were buried in Šmihel.

They counted 30 of them, 15 were «tabelih» and 15 Italians. The «tabelih» were crueler to people, while the Italians collected eggs, hunted and shot hens. Our hen saved her own twelve chicks, took them into the forest and only returned home towards evening.

Vinko Šmajdek was then still not two years old. The event could be described only through the storytelling of his parents. With his son of the fallen Šalija, he regularly takes care of the nearby memorial site.

Bogdan Mali, Še pomnite tovariši? Šum sekvoj, junij 2013, 9.