BORJE - Memorial to Franc Pavšek

A rectangular, light stone plaque with an engraved inscription (unveiled in 1957) is
erected in the southwest corner of the house, in which Franc Pavšek was born and in which he fell on 15 April 1945.

EŠD 19295

»We have already mentioned the broadly active supporter of the liberation movement, Franc
Pavšek from Borj. Pavšek was not only a founding member of the local committee of OF in
Šentlambert, but also a member of the regional committee of OF Šentlambert – Tirna, which
was formed in April 1942 in the Ramšljevi house under Golčami. Later, in the second half of
1943, he also became a member of the district committee of OF Vače – Šentlambert as a
referent for economy. He was also a member of the OF committee in the local village, which
consisted of his wife Marija, as well as Janez Drobež and Štefanija Potočnik. Pavšek’s wife
and daughter materially and morally supported the partisans and other illegal families who
were forced to withdraw from the mountain valley due to the occupiers’ violence.

In Borjeh, in the second half of 1944, there were two tailoring workshops. In addition, Pavšek
together with the miner Štefan Urankar from Čolnišč built two partisan hospital bunkers BV-1
above Borjeh in early March 1945. Pavšek was arrested by the occupying authorities and
placed on the list for liquidation.

On Sunday, 15 April, the SS came from Izlak through Kobiljek, accompanied by a few
homefront volunteers and a traitor. This was a partizanka who was operating under the
command in Vače. She was at Pavškov’s house on 8 January 1945, so Franc recognized her
although she did not want to recognize him. She stood all the time outside the house entrance.
One of the SS men entered and, according to the account of Franc’s daughter Francka, hit the
father twice strongly on the head and compared him to a bandit. He shot him in the chest and
immediately afterwards shot another man in the head. 'The father collapsed dead. The
executioner prepared a third shot and aimed the weapon at my mother’s chest, on which she had
a young daughter, Elizabeto, who was a year old. The mother turned completely red. In her
eyes, we did not see even a single tear. The Nazi did not shoot the mother, but she was ill
from then on and died shortly after the war. Thus, we were left with six children without
parents, and to this day we carry in our hearts this terrible scene, which we will never
forget.' [text under the photograph] Memorial plaque on Matej’s home« (Boštjan Grošelj, The
Murder of Franc Pavšek in Borjeh, Memorials of the Turbulent Times /Echoes of Turbulent
Times/, Šentlambert: Local Community, 2022, pp. 20, 21)