Babni Vrt - Memorial to Janez Čimžar

A little outside the village of Babni Vrt towards the southwest stands a roughly shaped stone block with a smoothed surface, into which an inscription has been carved and painted. It reminds of the fallen partizan Janez Čimžar from Britof near Kranj. The monument was erected by the KO ZB NOV Britof.

Janez Čimžar was a member of the 2nd battalion of the Gorenjska detachment. He fell here while retreating alone before a German patrol heading to the partizan camp on Kozjek from Malo Poljano. In Babni Vrt, he entered crossfire from German garrisons, which literally riddled him with bullets from machine guns.

Janez Čimžar was born on 21 April 1920, and was a native of Britof near Kranj, so the local ZB NOV committee from this area erected a memorial plaque in his honor.

Chronological record of vandalism on this memorial plaque (record by KPSO):

1.) On 7 August 2023, a witness informed the ZZB NOB Slovenia by email that on 31 July 2023, the perpetrator used a excavator to dig a hole and placed a memorial stone dedicated to the fallen partizan Janez Čimžar in Babni Vrt (ešd 20670) into it, and then covered everything (including the base?) with earth. Due to obvious vandalism, the Kranj branch of the ZB NOB submitted a report of suspicion of a criminal act to the Kranj Public Prosecutor's Office.

2.) During the hearing by the Kranj Public Prosecutor's Office and the inspector from the Cultural Heritage Inspectorate (sent to the location by the Kranj ZVKDS OE), the accused referred to a water damage (4 August 2023), which caused the 'sinking of the monument into the ground'. The owner of the parcel, who was 'effective' in his defense, was believed:

• The inspector for culture of the Republic of Slovenia (L.G.), responsible for the protection of cultural heritage, in a notice dated 13 November 2023, concluded that there is no legal basis to continue the inspection procedure, so the procedure will be terminated in accordance with Article 28 of the ZIN.

• The identical decision (rejection) by the Kranj District Public Prosecutor's Office dated 8 April 2024 states: "Since there is no justified evidence, the suspicion of a criminal act is rejected."

Undoubtedly, the investigating authorities, regardless of the dates, have decisively overlooked the facts.

The suspicion of a criminal act was rejected, as the prosecution (obviously) judged based on completely erroneous results of the inspector, who 'believed' the misleading (inconsistent in terms of dates) statements of the accused parcel owner, claiming that the monument sank into the ground on its own due to water damage. The water damage occurred on 3 and 4 August 2023, i.e., four days after the witness saw the 'excavator at work'.

3.) In November 2024, the monument was again exposed, unearthed, and placed right next to the public lighting post (originally it was about 5 meters higher on the hillside, with a base beneath it - which is now missing), cleaning is needed, and the surrounding area is completely unorganized (fig. 9).

4.) On 18 January 2026, during an inspection of the monument by the Kranj branch of the ZB NOB, it was seen: the unearthed monument was not placed back in its original location, but rather next to the public lighting post, otherwise the dirt was cleaned, and the letters were restored.

The Kranj branch of the ZB NOB, responsible to the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (ZVKDS OE Kranj), asks:

a) Who unearthed the buried monument and reinstalled it?

b) Were the other cultural protection conditions (KVP) issued by the ZVKDS OE Kranj on 7 November 2023 fulfilled during this reinstallation, and is the monument now placed on a concrete base?c)    Does the condition and appearance of the aforementioned heritage unit correspond to its authentic (original) installation (as the Institute referred to when restoring the Aljaž Column in 2018, when it did not allow the reinstallation of the commemorative plaque from 1944, and as the Institute (in the same year, also during the restoration) 'overlooked' at the Memorial to the Victims in Šenčur, when the ZB NOB Kranj requested that the two metal stars, vandalously cut from the perimeter fence in 1991, be reinstalled).

d)    In the Institute's opinion, does the removal of the partisan stone in Babni Vrt comply with the legislation on the protection of cultural heritage (ZVKD-1, ..)?