Cemetery of the 1st Battalion KZO

First days of February 1945 the 1st battalion of KZO was encamped in Zahomci above Vranski. From there it moved to Črni vrh to the farmer Martin Lesjaku p.d. Černetu. About this the Germans were informed. From the post in Pihlbirt near Tabor a column of about 200 men immediately set out towards Črni vrh. The partisans were timely informed and withdrew through Kozice across Presedlje to the village of Zaplanina. The battalion was encamped with the farmers Ivan Zajcu p.d. Tinčku and Ivan Učakarju p.d. Pidru. This was on 6th of February 1945. In the nearby village, in the hut of the farmer Učakar, lived Ana Žitnik and her 17-year-old son Anton. Žitnik was a German speaker and often spoke with her son in German. As later turned out, Žitnik was a Gestapo informant. When she and her son saw the partisans at the neighbors, they decided to report this to the Germans. On the morning of 8th of February Anton rushed to Ločico to the collaborators. He reported himself to the farmer Fran Slakan p.d. Doberšku. Also in that house were the partisans. Žitnik slipped out into the forest through the last gate, then ran to Ločico. When Štetinin received Žitnik's report, he called the commander of the collaborators in Trojane. Together they made a plan for the attack. Žitnik led the collaborators from Ločice through Zahomce and Črni vrh to Presedlje. There they set up a strong position. The collaborators from Trojane advanced from another direction, bypassing Šentgotard, Zgornje and Spodnje Zaplanine to both farms where the partisans were. They suddenly attacked and thus surprised the battalion. However, the battalion did not suffer any casualties and simply withdrew in order to Presedlje. High snow did indeed greatly hinder the march, but the battalion's headquarters was already convinced that they had avoided the worst. The collaborators from Ločice, who were in the position, let the battalion down just before, then attacked them with all their weapons. The battle was short, but disastrous for the battalion. On the battlefield 36 fighters lay dead, only eight managed to escape from the point of the machine gun fire. The battalion commander, Franc Bratun-Jelen, was twice wounded and seriously injured. When he realized that he could no longer be saved, he shot himself. The fighters ran down the slope of Zahitrca towards Ločico. Among them were several seriously wounded. The collaborators killed them brutally and desecrated their bodies. Žitnik also boasted how he had chased still living partisans into the "gobec". The fallen fighters the Germans left lying on the battlefield for three days. Only on the third day the municipal authority arranged for their burial. Among the fallen partisans were also three locals. A wounded man dragged himself into the hut of Žitnik. She informed the collaborators, who sent a patrol. They dragged him out of the hut and killed him nearby. After the war the fighters were reburied in Gorica above Vranski, but even there they do not have their own memorial. Source: Rado Zakonjšek-Cankar, Velika preizkušnja, p.491.