Franc Rozman Stane

Franc Rozman Stane (March 27, 1911 - November 7, 1944), was a legendary Slovene partisan commandant of World War II.

Franc Rozman was born in the village Spodnje Pirniče, near Ljubljana, Austro - Hungary (now Slovenia) to mother Marjana née Stare and father Franc Rozman. He was the third of four children, having two elder sisters, Marjeta and Terezija, and a younger brother, Martin.

Franc Rozman Stane , center, with Dušan Kveder Tomaž and Peter Stante Skala in July 1943

At the age of three, Franc lost his father, a railway track-worker, in the Russia theater of World War I. Stane had a poor and hard childhood. His sisters Marjeta and Terezija were sent to an orphanage, while Franc and his brother Martin stayed in Pirniče. When he was 15 years old, he became a hind in one tavern and after that he trained as a journeyman baker. As a young boy he had great enthusiasm for an armed-forces career, but was rejected on asking to join the military school. In spring of 1932 he had to serve in the army. In 1935 when the Italians started to mobilize Slovene youngsters for the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, Franc decided to join the Ethiopian forces. He didn't succeed.

As soon as the Spanish Civil War had broken out, he decided to travel to Spain. He was among the first Yugoslav volunteers in Spain, where he, on October 1, 1936 joined the Spanish Republican army. In Jarama he completed noncommissioned officer's school, became a lieutenant and a commander of a company, then captain and commander of a battalion. His comrades in arms remembered him as a lively, earnest and decreed person.

After the war in Spain he spent some time in French camps. In April 1941 he went to Meissen, Germany and in July the same year he finally returned home through Germany. For a while he lived with an activist of the OF (the Liberation Front (Osvobodilna fronta)). In early December he visited his youngest brother Martin, after which he joined the Slovene partisans. Soon he became a military instructor with the High Command of the Slovene partisan forces. He was given the task of setting up the Styrian battalion (Štajerski bataljon), which would consist of the partisan troops, (the Revirje and Savinjska troops (Revirske in Savinjske čete)), which were active in Styria as of the autumn of 1941. He participated in the Attack on Šoštanj and later in the Battle of Čreta. The Germans repeatedly tried to liquidate Franc Rozman, setting many ambushes.

In the spring of 1942 Franc Rozman became the commandant of a Slovene partisan brigade, established in April 5 1942 on Kremenik in Lower Carniola (Dolenjska), and numbering more than 300 fighters. Measured by composition, organization, training, and fighting power, this was the most powerful Slovene partisan unit at that time.

On July 13, 1943 he became a commandant of the High Command of the Slovene partisan's army with the rank of a lieutenant general (generallajtnant) which he held up to his death.

He died in Bela Krajina as a consequence of a bad wound received while attending the testing a new weapon (mortars), sent to the partisans by their British Allies. There were some rumours he was killed by sabotage, caused by the Serb military authorities, but they have never been fully proven.

Commandant Stane, as he was nicknamed by the partisan fighters, is considered to be one of the brightest figures of the NOB (the National liberation struggle). A well known partisan song Komandant Stane (The commandant Stane) is dedicated to him. Many Slovene schools bear his name. The Franc Rozman Stane Barracks (Vojašnica Franc Rozman Stane) at Ljubljana-Polje also proudly bears his name.

The Internet coffeehouse in Celje bears his name Internet Kavarna Stane.

External links

* A picture of the commandant Stane on a drawing of Slovene painter Božidar Jakac (in Slovene).
* Internet kavarna Stane (in Slovene).