European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

I was alone in appointing these teachers and without Slovenian schools.

I decided to call a meeting for all the women who stayed home alone so I could present them with a dictation of a text.

I had some knowledge of the Slovene language I reviewed the results

and decided that the one who made the fewest mistakes would be the teacher.

The children needed someone to present them with at least the basics of the language and a little math and reading.

They couldn’t just go through the war without any schooling … The official schooling system had disintegrated.

So it was necessary to establish a Slovenian school.

Things were easiest for me while I worked in the schooling system.

Although for a long time I felt like an informer.

Being 18, I strained to be a great informer, like all those characters I’d read about, Sherlock Holmes for instance,

and I dreamed of all the miracles I would do. I did do a few bold things, even stupid, but at least they worked.

For instance, if I could, I slept in a bed. I’d arrive in a village and they would offer me a bed. I would risk it.

The Germans would come at night and that was a problem: how and where to hide.

I always had a mini-bunker somewhere to hide in. I acted completely against all rules, rather according to my instincts.

Once I was in my home village and Germans came suddenly at night.

Luckily it was very dark and they were roaming about with torches.

I was on the verge of coming home to my house and what was I to do?

They were going to inspect the houses. I got an idea.

I thought it wisest to follow the patrol to see where they were going. So I followed them, only meters behind, through the entire village.

I was careful of how I walked as not to be too loud. It was utterly dark but I didn’t need a torch.