Bolfenk

When the Germans in January 1945 wanted to move partisan families from this area, the partisans were timely informed. Fighters from the second squad of the 1st battalion of the Kozjanski detachment suddenly attacked the Germans. Thirteen German soldiers and a partisan machine gunner were killed.

Due to the strong Nazi violence, the Haloška partisan squad was established in Halozah only on 18 April 1945. It moved almost every night to avoid being surprised and destroyed. The first serious clash occurred only in the second half of January 1945 at Sv. Bolfenku in Halozah. The informant Jože Ogorevc-Pepi informed the squad that German soldiers intended to arrest the Planinč family and burn their home. Commander Hernaus immediately took action and the fighters occupied positions in the high snow on the slope of the forest near the road. After more than two hours of waiting, they saw a column of German soldiers, who were leading a woman with a child ahead of them for their own safety. The Kozjanci let the vanguard advance, and the main force "fired with fire" from all weapons. After a short battle, about ten dead remained on the battlefield, five soldiers were captured. On the partisan side, a machine gunner Jože Petančič from Piršenbrega was killed, who despite the warning from the political commissar Rožman continued to fire at the soldiers. They buried him on the cemetery at Sv. Bolfenku in Halozah. A few days later, the occupier ordered him to be exhumed and photographed. In the area where the squad operated, there were also local homes that closed their doors to the partisans, because their owners were deceived in the strength of the Third Reich.

Leader 550

Tomaž Teropšič
Kozjanski odred. 1995

Two memorials stand at Jelovicah in Halozah in memory of the clash between the second squad of the 1st battalion of the Kozjanski detachment and German soldiers in January 1945. The first stands at the site of the clash, where ten soldiers and a partisan machine gunner were killed. A short distance away is a memorial plaque for the fallen machine gunner Jožef Petančič.

After the war, the Union of Fighters, led by Faniko Vauda, organized an annual march to Jelovice. The marchers started from Vičava (before the home of Olga Meglič), crossed the Drava by raft, and then continued on foot to Jelovice, where a cultural program was held before the memorial of the NOB.

Kamra /no_think