European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)
-
Post war period – deserting the army
-
They wanted to keep me in the army when the war ended.
-
I had some sort of Partisan rank,
-
something like second lieutenant, but I had no intention of building a military career.
-
I deserted the army in September 1945.
-
I wanted to study and I believed that I fought for that too, for my own personal freedom, for the right to decide for myself what I would do.
-
I didn’t want anybody else deciding for me.
-
I wanted to study Slovene; as I had never attended Slovene schools, my knowledge of the language was deficient, and I was a poet.
-
That was all just retold rather harshly, but they understood. There were no charges brought against me.
-
I had deserted in September and it was December before I received my certificate of discharge.
-
For three months I had been de facto, and I might very well have been charged with desertion before a military court.
-
It was another of my crazy maneuvers that had simply worked out well.
-
They had understood this powerful desire of mine to study
-
and they turned a blind eye towards the fact that I had broken the law, that I had deserted the unit without anyone’s permission.
-
I just left.
-
Our unit was the Gubcev brigade with its seat in Postojna.
-
Every day I tested: I have to go studying, leave it alone,
-
we have other worries, and you know how invaluable you are to us.
-
I was immediately nominated for some medals, but I just didn’t stop.
-
Once the commander finally lost his temper and said: I’m sick of you! Just get out of my sight!
No more segments to load.
Loading more segments…
© 2009-2024 WebTranslateIt Software S.L. All rights reserved.
Terms of Service
·
Privacy Policy
·
Security Policy