Founding of AFŽ Koroška in Lobnig

"The AFŽ was founded in 1943 in the area around Bad Eisenkappel/Železna Kapla. Its aim was to empower and educate women within and for the resistance. Many of the families from which activists were recruited had little access to education, although the desire for education was very strong. The main burden of the partisan resistance fell on the backs of women and older men. Young men were on one side or the other in the war. Therefore, it was necessary to organize and educate the women who remained at the estates. How one behaves in an illegal resistance is not known from the outset. It must be learned. After the war, attempts were made to encourage these women to write down their stories. However, they had little self-confidence. This applied to agricultural work, but not to speaking and writing about their own lives. This role was exclusively male. Therefore, the AFŽ was an important political organization in which women were specifically addressed, in which their experiences were given great importance, and in which their contributions were recognized." – Helena Verdel