Partizanska bolnišnica Franja, Cerkno
Dolenji Novaki, SI-5282 Cerkno
Phone386 (0) 5 372 6600
Founded byMunicipality of Cerkno
Managed byIdrija Municipal Museum
Franja Partisan Hospital
From Culture.si
Contact
In 2007 the floods have devastated the site. The complete renovation will be completed in May 2010 and the hospital will reopen for visitors.
Background
The Slovene military partisan hospital Franja was one of the many field hospitals that operated in Slovenia during the Second World War. They formed part of the widely organized resistance movement against fascist and Nazi occupying forces. The successful operation of these hospitals would not have been possible without the enormous support of those who cared for the wounded and many times even risked their lives.
The hospital is named after partisan doctor in charge Franja Bojc Bidovec. It was among the best-equipped of clandestine partisan hospitals, with an operating room, X-ray apparatus, an invalid care facility and a small electric plant. Most of the equipment is preserved in situ. The hospital had a capacity of up to 120 patients, and provided treatment for a total of 522 severely wounded persons. Some 1,000 wounded soldiers of various nationalities were treated in Franja and its dislocated units alongside Slovenes and citizens of Yugoslav nations, including Italians, French, Russians, Poles, Americans and an Austrian. One of the patients, a captured German soldier, joined the hospital staff after his recovery and remained there until the end of the war. During the entire period of the hospital's operation, 61 patients died. Conspiracy and security were of crucial importance to all clandestine partisan hospitals because, if discovered, they lacked effective defence mechanisms. Most of the route leading to the hospital ran along a stream flowing through the gorge. The wounded were blindfolded and carried to the hospital by its staff, most often at night. In selecting its location, consideration was also given to adequate self-defence in the form of minefields and machine-gun nests, and for this purpose the hospital was accessible only by footbridges and drawbridges hidden in the steep Pasica Gorge. Still preserved in the steep walls rising above the stream are several fortified bunkers and natural caves - hiding places for the wounded. Although enemy forces launched several searches for the hospital, it was never discovered.
Franja Partisan Hospital is administered by Idrija Municipal Museum. It became part of Cerkno Museum in 1963. A 2003 stamp issued by the Post of Slovenia to mark the 60th anniversary of Franja Hospital became Stamp of the Year. Franja is also on a list of candidates to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Huge floods devastated Franja Partisan Hospital on 18th September 2007. Entrance to the Pasice gorge is not possible and all visits are cancelled. It is to be entirely rebuilt to replicate the original till May 2010.
Misssion
The Franja Partisan Hospital is a precious reminder of humanity and comradeship, and a symbol of international unity and resistance during the time of tests most difficult for mankind. It represents virtues that are an indispensable part of the present as well as future relations between the nations and countries of the world. Some 800 original specimens had been exhibited in the Franja Partisan Hospital. 225 items have remained undamaged, the others are only partly preserved or destroyed completely. Idrija Municipal Museum is developing a plan for the future exhibition setup in the reconstructed monument. It will also serve as a basis for collecting and keeping records of the items, and for making the replicas which will substitute for the originals. The project represents a special challenge due to the fact that the material heritage has mainly been lost, while its messages remain alive and topical.
See also
External Links
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Franja Partisan Hospital at Dolenji Novaki near Cerkno is a cluster of functionally-arranged Partisan hospital facilities located in the narrow, barely accessible Pasica Gorge, which is itself a natural attraction. +
Franja Partisan Hospital at Dolenji Novaki near Cerkno is a cluster of functionally-arranged Partisan hospital facilities located in the narrow, barely accessible Pasica Gorge, which is itself a natural attraction. +
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