European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

Upon my return with that bicycle, I got the message and it wrote Mali –

that was my Partisan name – we went to Zagreb, to Maksimir.

Coming to Slovenia with the brigade

Our brigade stepped onto Slovenian soil at Sedlarjevo without a fight.

The Germans were retreating and we went right on in.

Then we came down to Podcetrtek.

There were people standing along the road in Podcetrtek.

We passed by, I was riding my horse – because now I was already a commanding officer of the ‘rear support unit’ –

so I was riding my horse and someone calls out Ivo!

I felt a shudder of fear. Who could possibly know me here? I had never been to Podcetrtek or anywhere hereabouts.

And then a second time Ivo, Ivo, come here!

I looked around and recognized the girl. She was a former classmate of mine. She’s still alive today.

She came to me and invited me to come over to eat. I told her Thank you,

but if I come anywhere near there will be a crawling carpet all over the floor.

Why?

I explained to her that I was full of lice; we all were.

So then we came to Celje on the 12th of April. I wondered how I could get up to here.

Well, I was the commanding officer of the ‘rear support unit’. So I went to Mesic and said: Mesic, I’d like to go home.

I spoke in Serbocroatian; we didn’t speak Slovene.

He asked where I was from. I lied and said that maybe four, five or six kilometers away.