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.

EŠD 22903

»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.