Dolnji Suhor—Memorial to the Attack on the Belogardist Post at Suhorj

Annihilation of the Belogardist stronghold

The final phase of the great Italian offensive ended between 29 October and 4 November 1942 on the Gorjance. In the second half of November, the 3rd company of the 3rd battalion of the Belogardist Legion of Death was stationed in the school and parish house in Suhorje. Its task was to monitor the road from Metlika to Novo Mesto and to prevent contact between Slovene and Croatian units of the NOV across this territory. Therefore, the Slovene-Croatian operational staff, established on 24 November 1942 in the village of Cvetišće on Žumberk, decided to attack immediately. Part of the 13th Croatian突击 brigade, Josip Kraš, began the attack on the stronghold in the evening of 26 November; approximately 170 enemy soldiers were present in the stronghold. The remaining parts of the Croatian brigades, Cankarjeva brigade and the Eastern Dolomites detachment secured the attack. By the following morning, the stronghold was completely annihilated. Most of the garrison was captured by the partisans – among them 8 Belogardist organizers; the commander of the 3rd battalion, Captain Dobrivoj Vasiljević-Izok, was sentenced to death by the partisan court. Large quantities of weapons, ammunition and various military equipment were also captured. The Italian plan to primarily use the Belogardists to militarily control the Gorjance has failed.

In memory of this great victory of Croatian and Slovene partisans, which halted the spread of Belogardism in the White Homeland, the Municipality of Metlika proclaimed 26 November as a municipal holiday, at the same time making it a holiday of the local community of Suhor.

Plaques in memory of this partisan victory were unveiled at the cultural house of the XIV division on 26 November 1967.

Source: archive of ZB NOB Metlika (77)

Guide through partisan trails, Ljubljana: Borec Publishing, 1978, p. 137.