Bašeljsko Sedlo

The headquarters of the Kokrški detachment, together with the II. battalion of that detachment, was located not far from the Basel Hill.

The Germans attacked the battalion headquarters camp on 13 July 1942 before the fourth hour in the morning. Due to this, there were fully German troops on the Basel Hill, Kališče, Zaplati and elsewhere, to whom three were encountered on the same day in the afternoon, when they came directly from the plain above Kranj to the Basel Hill.

From the southern side of the hill, four fighters arrived in the afternoon. They were Franc Vodopivec - Ciril, a member of the PK KPS for Gorenjsko and former secretary of the district committee of the KO Kranj, Boris Ručigaj, a new young district secretary, whom Franc Vodopivec introduced to the work (both from Kranj), guide Miha Bizjak from Trboje and courier of the headquarters of the 1st group of detachments Ivan Pogačnik - Ivko. The first two were sent by the headquarters of the 1st group of detachments and the PK KPS for Gorenjsko to assist the Kokrški detachment, and then they were to go further to Kamniško.

Since they were still far away in the morning, they did not hear the morning shooting on the hill. They did not even know that the Germans were already in the Storžič slopes, so they approached the hill carelessly.

On the Basel Hill, there was already a wire fence that prevented wandering from Jelendola to the southern slopes of Storžič. On the sides, wooden planks were placed at several places.

A little below the summit, near the crossing of the fence, the German machine gunner, who was on duty, shot them down with a rafale. Three were killed on the spot - Franc Vodopivec - Ciril, Boris Ručigaj and guide Miha Bizjak. Courier of the headquarters of the 1st group of detachments Ivan Pogačnik - Ivko was wounded, but later, in 1943, he also fell.

Miha Bizjak was from Trboje.

Vodopivec - Ciril was born on 27 August 1913 in Petelinje in Notranjsko. He was a worker and already a pre-war member of the KP, and a devoted fighter. He fell shortly before his 29th birthday.

Third, Boris Ručigaj, was still much younger, since he was born on 8 July 1923 in Kranj, so he fell at the age of barely 19. He was from a well-known Kranj family of the Sodavičar family. His brother Božo, a pre-war skier, fell as a partisan already in December 1941 in Poljanska dolina. Boris was always a cheerful young man, pleasant and hard-working. He was an excellent skier, a great talent in alpine disciplines, where he competed with Tinček Mulej, and as a jumper he became the young national champion. War tore all this apart, and Boris immediately joined the NOB with his brother Božo. On 19 February 1942, he escaped to the partisans before his arrest and became a fighter of the Selška group first. On 27 March 1942, he was seriously wounded in the leg during the battle above Crngrob, but he continued to work on the terrain during his recovery. Then he became a group political commissar, a member of the district committee of the KPS Kranj, and was already in January 1942.

Ručigaj's family was driven out of the house on 6 December 1942 to be expelled. Father Ernest Ručigaj resisted, so the Gestapo shot him at the doorstep of the house. Mother and daughter Vera and Nado were taken to Goričane and further to Bavaria. Older Vera escaped from the hospital to the Koršička partisans in 1944. Son Božo fell on 25 December 1941 on Lavtarski vrh in a battle with the Germans. Jože Ručigaj, uncle of Božo and Boris, was killed on Rupi under Ovčanov travnik on 19 March 1944.

Monuments of the NOB in the municipality of Kranj, p. 57–58.

Vodnik po partizanskih poteh, Ljubljana: Borec, 1978, p. 217.

Planinski vestnikThe plaque was erected by the municipal committee of ZB NOV Kranj in cooperation with the Kranj Alpine Society. It was made according to the design of architect Nandeta Jocif. The author is Črtomir Zorec. The memorial plaque was unveiled on 1 August 1953.

EŠD 15817