Franci Strle, knjiga: VELIKI FINALE NA KOROSKEM, 1977
Poljana, Koroska / Kratek vpogled v objavljen tekst

(stran 318)

Prvi bataljon Tomsiceve je bil razvrscen po spodnjih pobocjih Loma in sicer od kmeta Razdrtica mimo Rutarja do Ferija in Mrva ter dalje proti Podlapu. Tolkel je lahko ne samo dostope proti Poljani in Mezici, ampak tudi golo pobocje na Holmcu in proti Dolgim brdom. Tudi 1. bataljon Tomsiceve brigade je stel blizu 300 moz, ki so bili odlicno oborozeni in zelo bojeviti. Bataljonu je poveljeval porocnik Franc Pozar, politicni komisar pa je bil Stanko Sahman-Volt, namestnik komandanta podporocnik Ferdo Colnik, pomocnik politicnega komisarja pa pokojni Vinko Kozar. 487

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* Franc Herle-Nande, takratni komandant 1. bataljona Slandrove brigade, je razkazal polozaje svojega bataljona na kraju samem jeseni leta 1972, pri tem pa tudi opisal ves potek boja z ustasi, ki je trajal 14. maja 1945 do pozne noci.

            Drugi bataljon Tomsiceve je bil s stirimi cetami razvrscen v sami vasi Poljana in okoli nje, ena ceta pa je bila v rezervi in je pospravljala vojni plen. Najprej so na polozaje tega bataljona trcili crnogorski cetniki, ki so minometalski ceti na desni strani Meze prisli za hrbet ter jo tako docela presenetili in razbili. Izgubila je vse tezko orozje, precej borcev pa je bilo tudi zajeto.* Kmalu po tem spopadu so Vojvodinci sporocili, da se bo 2. bataljon 7. vojvodinske brigade umaknil s polozajev okoli Kovska. Ker bi bil s tem 2. bataljon Tomsiceve na polozajih pri Poljani ogrozen, je komandant porocnik Ludvik Boh-Stane odredil, da preostale tri cete razvrsti po dotedanjih polozajih Vojvodincev okoli Kovska. Od tu je s poldrugo ceto lahko obvladal vas Poljano in cesto do nje iz Prevalj, poldruga ceta pa je bila razvrscena v obliki podkve, tako da so ti borci lahko varovali dostope iz dolinice, po kateri je speljana zelezniska proga proti Holmcu. Poleg Ludvika Boha-Staneta so bili v stabu 2. bataljona Tomsiceve se: Djoko Vucinic kot njegov namestnik, Milos Rutar-Ruzo kot politicni komisar in Janez Potocnik kot pomocnik politicnega komisarja.488

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Franci Strle, book: GRAND FINALE ON KOROSK, 1977

Poljana, Koroska / Brief overview of the published text

 

(page 318)

The first battalion of Tomsiceva was deployed along the lower slopes of Loma, namely from the farm Razdrtica past Rutar to Feri and Mrvo and further towards Podlap. Tolkel can hit not only the approaches towards Poljana and Mezica, but also the bare slope on Holmec and towards Dolgi Brdo. The 1st battalion of the Tomsic brigade also had close to 300 men, who were well armed and very combative. The battalion was commanded by lieutenant Franc Pozar, the political commissar was Stanko Sahman-Volt, the deputy commander was lieutenant Ferdo Colnik, and the assistant political commissar was the late Vinko Kozar. 487

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* Franc Herle-Nande, the then commander of the 1st battalion of the Slander brigade, showed the positions of his battalion on the spot in the fall of 1972, while also describing the entire course of the fight with the Ustasi, which lasted on May 14, 1945 until late at night.

The second battalion of Tomsiceva was deployed with four companies in and around the village of Poljana, while one company was in reserve and was cleaning up war booty. First, the positions of this battalion were attacked by the Montenegrin Chetniks, who came behind the mortar company on the right side of the Meza and thus completely surprised and destroyed it. It lost all its heavy weapons, and many fighters were also captured.* Shortly after this conflict, the Vojvodina announced that the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Vojvodina Brigade would withdraw from its positions around Kovsko. Since the 2nd battalion of Tomsiceva in the positions near Poljana would be threatened by this, the commander, lieutenant Ludvik Boh-Stane, ordered that the remaining three companies be classified according to the previous positions of the Vojvodina around Kovsko. From here, with one and a half battalions, he was able to control the village of Poljana and the road leading to it from Prevalje, while the other and one and a half battalions were arranged in a horseshoe shape, so that these fighters could protect the access from the valley, along which the railway line to Holmec runs. In addition to Ludvik Boh-Stanet, the staff of the 2nd battalion of Tomsice included: Djoko Vucinic as his deputy, Milos Rutar-Ruzo as political commissar and Janez Potocnik as assistant political commissar.488

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* Najbrz so bili to tisti zajeti partizani, ki so jih ustasi privedli in zaprli v Zdovcevo kuhinjo. Bilo jih je 40, Stanko in Pavla Apovnik pa se spominjata, da so bili po narodnosti Slovenci (pismo Filipa Kolenika z dne 16. decembra 1975). Ob tem je treba povedati se to, da je bila udelezba 2. bataljona Tomsiceve v bitki pri Poljani na dan 14. maja 1945 do pred kratkim neznana. Takratni politicni komisar Milos Rutar-Ruzo jo je zanikal, nam. komandanta Djoko Vucinic in pom. polit. komisarja Janez Potocnik pa mi nista bila dostopna, medtem ko mi Ludvik Boh-Stane na pismo ni odgovoril, ker je bil leta 1972 v bolnisnici. Prvi podatek, zaradi katerega sem podvomil v pricevanje Milosa Rutarja-Ruza, sem nasel v Bojni relaciji 14. udarne divizije, stev. 8 z dne 28. oktobra 1945. V njej je za 14. maj 1945 zapisano: "Stab brigade v Èrni, 1. in 2. bataljon na polozajih v okolici Mezice, 3. in 4. bataljon v zelezni Kapli. Pri Poljani je prislo do boja med nasimi silami in kakimi 30.000 ustasi, ki niso hoteli poloziti orozja ..." Ko sem o tem 10. avgusta 1975 povprasal Ludvika Boha-Staneta, takratnega komandanta 2. bataljona Tomsiceve, mi je povedal, da se je z ustasi pri Poljani tolkel tudi njegov bataljon. Na rekonstrukciji dne 30. septembra 1975 sem spoznal, da ustasi pri Poljani sploh niso prebili zapore dveh bataljonov Tomsiceve in 1. bataljona Slandrove, marvec so jo zaobsli.

            Kaze, da se je major Ivan Majnik-Dzems na vecer pred tem zadrzeval pri stabu Tomsiceve brigade v Prevaljah. Bil je tudi v stiku s stabom 7. vojvodinske brigade, ki je imel svoje enote kar dobro razvrscene pred Prevaljami in dalje proti Poljani. Toda ustasi so ostro pritiskali od Dravograda proti Prevaljam in vse je kazalo, da se obeta hud boj. Dzems se je zato podvizal v Podjuno, da bi stab 14. udarne divizije obvestil o najnovejsem polozaju. Nekje med Pliberkom in Sinco vasjo je srecal podpolkovnika Ivana Kovacica-Efenko, komandanta, in Ivana Dolnicarja-Janoska, politicnega komisarja Stirinajste, ki sta bila na obhodu enot in zemljisca. Po poroèanju in kratkem posvetu je Efenka ob deveti uri in trideset minut kar tam napisal kratko povelje, v katerem naroca stabu 1. SNOUB Toneta Tomsica: Povezite se s 7. brigado (vojvodinsko) in da vodite borbe z ustasi skupno! Za cas borbe osnujte operativni stab Podrobnejsa navodila dobite od majorja Dzemsa... Povelje sta podpisala Dolnicar in Kovacic (Efenka) in je brez stabnega pecata, torej je bilo res napisano zunaj staba med obhodom.488a

 

* These were probably the captured partisans who were brought by the ustas and locked up in Zdovce's kitchen. There were 40 of them, and Stanko and Pavla Apovnik remember that they were Slovenians by nationality (Filip Kolenik's letter dated December 16, 1975). At the same time, it must be said that the participation of the 2nd Battalion of Tomsiceva in the Battle of Poljana on May 14, 1945 was unknown until recently. The political commissar at the time, Milos Rutar-Ruzo, denied it, nam. commander Djoko Vucinic and assistant polit. Commissioner Janez Potocnik was not available to me, while Ludvik Boh-Stane did not reply to my letter because he was in the hospital in 1972. I found the first piece of information that made me question the survival of Milos Rutar-Ruz in the Battle Report of the 14th Strike Division, stev. 8 dated October 28, 1945. It says for May 14, 1945: "Brigade headquarters in erna, 1st and 2nd battalions in positions around Mezica, 3rd and 4th battalions in Zelezna Kapla. At Poljana, a fight broke out between our forces and some 30,000 Ustas who refused to lay down their arms..." When I heard about this on August 10, 1975, pig Ludvik Boh-Stanet, then commander of the 2nd battalion of Tomsiceva, told me that his battalion also fought with the ustasi at Poljana. During the reconstruction on September 30, 1975, I realized that the Ustasi at Poljana did not even break through the barrier of the two battalions of Tomsiceva and the 1st battalion of Slandrov, they surrounded it.

It seems that Major Ivan Majnik-Dzems stayed at the headquarters of Tomsic's brigade in Prevalje the evening before. He was also in contact with the staff of the 7th Vojvodina Brigade, which had its units quite well arranged in front of Prevalje and further towards Poljana. But the Ustasi were pressing hard from Dravograd towards Prevalje, and everything indicated that a fierce battle was in store. Dzems therefore ventured to Podjuna to inform the headquarters of the 14th Strike Division about the latest situation. Somewhere between Pliberk and Sinca village, he met lieutenant colonel Ivan Kovacic-Efenko, the commander, and Ivan Dolnicar-Janosko, the political commissar of the 14th, who were on a tour of the units and the land. After reporting and a short consultation, Efenka wrote a short order right there at 9:30 a.m., in which he ordered the staff of the 1st SNOUB Tone Tomsic: "Link up with the 7th brigade (Vojvodina) and to conduct the fighting with the Ustasi together! Establish an operational staff for the duration of the fight. You can get more detailed instructions from Major Dzems..." The order was signed by Dolnicar and Kovacic (Efenka) and is without a staff seal, so it was really written outside the staff during the patrol. 488a

 

 

 

 

 

 

            To povelje najbrz ni bilo nikoli uresniceno, zakaj boj z ustasi pni Poljani se je bil tacas ze zacel, zvez z enotami 7. vojvodinske pa ni bilo vec.

Ustasi so v boj pri Poljani posegli 14. maja 1945 malo pred deveto uro. Tedaj se je po cesti proti Mezici napotila manjsa kolona do zob oborozenih ustasev, ki jo je vodil ustaski porocnik z dolgimi crnimi lasmi. Ta je malo pred kmetom Surnikom naletel na komandanta Franca Herleta-Nandeta in zahteval prost prehod proti Mezici, kar pa je Nande odklonil in ukazal, da morajo ustasi nemudoma odloziti orozje. Ker je naletel na gluha usesa in nesramen ugovor, je pomignil mitraljezcu v travi. Ta je porocnika crne legije in vrsto njegovih bojevnikov pokosil kakor snopje. Zacelo se je splosno streljanje. Ustasi so veckrat zapovrstjo jurisali prek Meze, ne da bi se menili za zrtve. Po vsi sili so hoteli slandrovce potisniti s polozajev in tako bocno zavarovati glavnino svoje kolone. Vsi ustaski jurisi pa so se zlomili se pred Mezo in v njeni strugi, tako da je bistra planinska reka tekla popolnoma rdece obarvana.489

            Mitraljezci z visin so tolkli po ustasih, ki so jih slandrovci in tomsicevci obsipavali tudi z minami. Kolone in skupine ustasev, ki so prisle do Poljane, pa so bile pravzaprav le pobocnice, zakaj gosto zbita kolona ustasev in njihovih beguncev je izrabila za kritje zelezniski predor pri zomanu in se umikala po dolinici med Holmcem in Dolgimi brdi po zelezniski progi in nato skozi drugi predor proti Libucam. Tako so ustasi zaporo dveh bataljonov Tomsiceve in 1. bataljona Slandrove brigade pri Poljani zaobsli in se izmuznili proti Pliberku skozi polozaje, ki bi jih bili morali braniti Vojvodinci. Le-ti so se z umikom bojem izognili.490

            Ogenj tomsicevcev in slandrovcev s polozajev pod Volinjakom, Lomom in Kovskom je bil urejen in usklajen. Kar je zaslo dalje od Poljane proti Feriju in Surniku, je vecinoma popadalo, razprsene skupine, ki so bezale proti Kovsku, pa je dotolkel 2. bataljon Tomsiceve brigade. Toda ustasev je bilo toliko, da so se posamezne skupine vklenile v nekatere mrtve kote, kjer so se potem trdovratno borili. V boju iz blizine je prihajalo do dramaticnih prizorov, ko so odlocali nozi in bombe.

 

This command was probably never implemented, because the fight with the Ustasi of Poljani had already begun, and there was no more contact with the units of the 7th Vojvodina.

The Ustasi intervened in the battle at Poljana on May 14, 1945 shortly before nine o'clock. At that time, a small column of Ustasha armed to the teeth headed along the road towards Mezica, led by an Ustasha lieutenant with long black hair. He ran into the commander Franco Herlet-Nandet shortly before the farmer Surnik and demanded free passage to Mezica, which Nande refused and ordered that the Ustasas must lay down their weapons immediately. Meeting a deafening hiss and a rude objection, he waved to the machine gunner in the grass. This one cut down the lieutenant of the black legion and a line of his warriors like sheaves. General shooting began. The Ustasi repeatedly rushed across the Meza without considering themselves victims. With all their might, they wanted to push the Slanders out of their positions and thus secure the bulk of their column laterally. However, all the Ustasha juries broke in front of the Meza and in its bed, so that the clear mountain river flowed completely red.489

Machine gunners from the heights pounded on the mouths, which were also strewn with mines by the Slandrov and Tomsic men. The columns and groups of Ustasas that reached Poljana were actually only flankers, because the densely packed column of Ustasas and their refugees used the railway tunnel at Zoman for cover and retreated along the valley between Holmec and Dolgi brdi along the railway line and then through another tunnel towards Libuce. Thus, the Ustasi bypassed the blockade of the two battalions of Tomsiceva and the 1st battalion of the Slander brigade near Poljana and slipped away towards Pliberk through the positions that should have been defended by the Vojvodina. They avoided the battle by retreating.490

The fire of Tomsi evci and Slandrovci from the positions below Volinjak, Lom and Kovsko was organized and coordinated. Most of what went beyond Poljana towards Feri and Surnik fell, and the scattered groups that ran towards Kovsk were beaten by the 2nd battalion of Tomsic's brigade. But there were so many Ustashes that individual groups got locked in some dead ends, where they then fought stubbornly. In the close combat, there were dramatic scenes when knives and bombs went off.

 

 

 

 

 

            Bitka je besnela z nezmanjsano srditostjo. Le redko se je popolnoma stisala, kakor da so si slandrovci in tomsicevci vzeli malo casa, da ohlade razbeljene cevi svojih hitrih sarcev, ki so bili pogoltali ze dolge reste streliva. Tega jim ni manjkalo.

Sarci in minometi iz 1. bataljona Tomsiceve so tolkli tudi po ustaskih pobocnicah in po ustaski glavnini, ki se je prebijala vzdolz zelezniske proge proti postaji Holmec in dalje proti Libucam. Ker so bili mitraljezci iz 1. bataljona Tomsiceve s svojimi rafali nadlezni kakor podrepne muhe, so se ustasi nenehoma zaganjali vanje. Strelske vrste ustasev so se zagrizle proti bojni razvrstitvi tomsicevcev. Zacel se je srdit boj in ze kmalu je morala vec kot polovica orozij samo se odbijati nenehne jurise crnih legionarjev. Pri tem so si morali mitraljezci in njihovi pomocniki pomagati tudi z rocnimi bombami.491

            Popoldne so se jurisi ustasev okrepili. Zmeraj vec jih je gomazelo cez padle, od prvega kritja dalje pa so se plazili po trebuhu z nozi v zobeh in z bombami v rokah. Nenadoma so se sovrazniki oglasili tudi za hrbtom. Pritisnili so z vrha Loma, kamor so se bili priplazili po obhodnih poteh z libucke strani. Zacel se je krvavi metez: Strahotna usoda boja na noz je doletela 1. ceto 1. bataljona Tomsiceve, ki ji je poveljeval Avgust Mithanz.* Hipoma je bila razpolovljena in razbita. Padlo je 8 borcev, 11 je bilo pogresanih in 6 ranjenih.492  Toda pogresane je steti za mrtve, zakaj ljudje vedo povedati, da so ustasi ujete partizane klali na Poljani pod kozolcem. zivi so ostali le tisti ujetniki iz tezke cete 2. bataljona Tomsiceve, ki so jih bili zjutraj tistega dne zajeli cetniki na desnem bregu Meze, potem pa jih izrocili ustasem. Le-ti so jih privedli stirideset h kmetu Zdovcu (Janezu Apovniku) in jih prek noci na 15. maj stlacili v kuhinjo, ker drugega prostora za zapor ni bilo pri hisi.493

            Med ustaskim udarom v hrbet sta na nasi strani padla tudi oce-mitraljezec in sin-pomocnik - tako je povedal Joze Prodnik-Grega,** politicni komisar 1. cete.404

            (stran 322)

 

 

 

The battle raged with unabated ferocity. It rarely compressed completely, as if the slanders and Tomsians took a little time to cool down the bleached tubes of their fast guns, which had already been swallowed by the long tails of ammunition. They didn't lack that.

Sarkis and mortars from the 1st battalion of Tomsiceva pounded the Ustasha flanks and the Ustasha main body, which was making its way along the railway line towards Holmec station and further towards Libuci. Since the machine gunners from the 1st battalion of Tomsiceva were as annoying as swatting flies with their bursts, the Ustasi constantly attacked them. Ustase firing squads were biting against the battle formation of the Tomsi soldiers. A fierce battle began and soon more than half of the weapons had to fend off the constant onslaught of the black legionnaires. The machine gunners and their assistants also had to help each other with hand grenades. 491

In the afternoon, the Ustasi juris were reinforced. More and more of them crawled over the fallen, and from the first cover they were crawling on their bellies with their legs in their teeth and bombs in their hands. Suddenly, the enemies also came from behind. They pressed from the top of Loma, where they had crept up by detours from the Libuka side. A bloody blizzard began: The terrible fate of the knife fight befell the 1st platoon of the 1st battalion of Tomsiceva, which was commanded by August Mithanz.* Hippoma was cut in half and broken. 8 fighters fell, 11 were missing and 6 were wounded.492 But the missing are considered dead, because people know how to say that the Ustasi slaughtered captured partisans in Poljana under a haystack. only those prisoners from the heavy regiment of the 2nd battalion of Tomsice, who were captured by the regiment on the right bank of the Meza in the morning of that day, were left alive, and then were handed over to the Ustas. They brought forty of them to the farmer Zdovac (Janez Apovnik) and crammed them into the kitchen during the night of May 15, because there was no other place for imprisonment at the house.493

During the Ustasha blow to the back, a father-machine gunner and a son-assistant also fell on our side - so said Joze Prodnik-Grega,** political commissar of the 1st company.404

(page 322)

 

Dne 2023-07-22: obisk na Poljanah v soboto.

Likar pove: starej i sodelavec v Velenju v skupini geometrov je bil "borec" z imenom EH .

Ta bi naj bil 1945. star nekaj nad 20 let, ki je upravljal s topom s katerim je streljaj po civilistih.

Izjavljaj je kako so s topovskimi granatami pobili okoli 2 tiso ljudi.

Kolega je celo povedal da je takrat skoraj bruhal tako grozne stvar mu je pravil kako je to bilo.

Streljali so z juznega hriba Volinjak v dolino Poljan.