Ivan Ivanovich "Nande" Kavchich ( Slovenian. Ivan Ivana "Nande" Kavčič , Serbohor. Ivan Ivan "Nande" Kavchich ; December 14, 1913 , Desenyak - July 13, 1943 , Sela pri Primerke) - Yugoslav Slovenian partisan of the People’s Liberation War, The national hero of Yugoslavia.
| Ivan Kavchich | |
|---|---|
| serbohorv. Ivan Kavčič / Ivan Kavchich | |
 Ivan Kavchich in the 1930s | |
| Nickname | Nande ( Slovenian. Nande , Serbian. Nande ) |
| Date of Birth | December 14, 1913 |
| Place of Birth | Desenyak , Austria-Hungary |
| Date of death | July 30, 1943 (29 years old) |
| Place of death | Village of Pri Schumberke , Kingdom of Italy |
| Affiliation |  /  Yugoslavia |
| Type of army | guerrilla troops |
| Years of service | 1941-1943 |
| Rank | lieutenant |
| Part | NOAU General Staff (Deputy Political Instrument) |
| Commanded | 1st Slovenian proletarian shock brigade , Zapadnodolensky partisan detachment, 2nd operational company |
| Battles / wars | The People's Liberation War of Yugoslavia |
| Awards and prizes |  |
Biography
Born December 14, 1913 in the village of Desenyak near Lutomer in a poor family. He worked as a digger in Ljubljana, where he joined the labor movement. Since January 1936, he was a member of the Union of Diggers of Yugoslavia, began to provide assistance to the Union of Communists of Yugoslavia and, thanks to his work, entered there in 1938 .
Since 1936, he participated in numerous strikes and protests: for example, in 1936 he participated in an eight-day strike by excavators, in 1939 he participated in a demonstration in Ljubljana against price increases, and in May and September 1940 he even led the demonstrations. Being devoted to the cause of communism, Ivan was also an ardent anti-Nazi, as evidenced by his participation in the 1939 demonstration condemning the occupation of Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland. In Ljubljana, Kavcic published the newspaper “Delavski entonosti” (with the word “Workers Unity”), which remained the only legal one after the dissolution of all workers' syndicates. Soon he headed the military commission about the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovenia.
In October 1940, a few days after the end of the next strike, Ivan was called up for military service. Despite the prohibition of communist propaganda, in the army he created a secret revolutionary organization, which he carefully controlled. Some time after returning from the army to Tomachevo, Ivan, foreseeing the impending war on Yugoslavia, at the Congress of the Communist Party of Slovenia called on all its members to join the army of Yugoslavia and prepare for the defense of the country.
The German occupation of Yugoslavia led to the overthrow of the monarchy, but the attempts of the German administration, together with collaborators to suppress anti-German resistance, were unsuccessful. Ivan became one of the organizers of the Liberation Front of Slovenia and de facto allowed to begin partisan activities in the country. He became a member of the Military Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovenia in the Ljubljana District and the Mobilization Commission in June 1941, and then, after the founding of the People’s Self-Defense, he received the position of the first military officer in the District Assembly of the Liberation Front in Ljubljana.
In February 1942, the Trusteeship of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovenia was established, which had its influence in Ljubljana. The secretary of trusteeship was Boris Kreiger , and also included Ivan Kavchich and Franz Ravbar . The trusteeship conducted radio talks both with the district committees of the Communist Party of Slovenia, and with the Central Committee of the Communist Party, with the headquarters of the NOAU and even with Moscow. It was Kavchich who was responsible for the negotiations, who worked under the operational pseudonym Nande.
The headquarters of the NOAA in Slovenia trusted him not only to carry out combat missions, but also to conduct political actions. For some time, Kavcic was the political instructor of the Tomšichev shock brigade, which later received the name of the 1st Slovenian proletarian. In one of the battles, Ivan was seriously wounded, but after recovery he led the Zapadnolenie detachment, and from December 1942 - the 2nd operational company. In May 1943, he received the position of Deputy Political Officer at the General Staff of the NOAA in Slovenia.
July 13, 1942 in the village of Primer Šumberk (near Trebné), during a battle with Italian and Slovenian collaborationist units, Ivan Kavcic tragically died from a grenade explosion. After the war he was reburied at the Cemetery of Popular Heroes in Ljubljana. On October 25, 1943, by decision of the High Command of the NOAU and the personal initiative of the General Headquarters of the NOAA in Slovenia, he was posthumously awarded the title of People's Hero of Slovenia along with Slavko Schlander , Tone Tomšić and Ljubo Scherzer .
Literature
- Enciklopedija Slovenije; zvezek5, Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana, 1991
- Folk Heroes of Ugoslavia. "Mladost", Beograd 1975. Godina.