The following text is not a historical study. It is a retelling of the witness’s life story based on the memories recorded in the interview. The story was processed by external collaborators of the Memory of Nations. In some cases, the short biography draws on documents made available by the Security Forces Archives, State District Archives, National Archives, or other institutions. These are used merely to complement the witness’s testimony. The referenced pages of such files are saved in the Documents section.

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Franjo Jelušić (* 1922)

• Franjo Jelušić

• Born on December 29, 1922 in Šmrika near Rijeka, into a family of farmers

• After the war, he worked as a navigator on Jugolinija’s ships and was involved in agriculture

• Before World War II, life was difficult and his family had nine members

• As a young man, he joined the partisans

• He fought in battles and on the front lines in Lika and Gorski Kotar

• He survived the Battle of Matić Poljana

• He was wounded in the hip and spent time in a hospital in Slovenia

• After the war, he refused a house offered to him in Slovenia and returned to his hometown of Šmrika

• He worked as a navigator on Jugolinija’s ships until retirement

• He lived to a ripe old age

Franjo Jelušić was born on December 29, 1922, in Šmrika, in a family of farmers. Before World War II, life was very difficult for his family, and there was no income. Franjo joined the partisans and fought in battles in Lika and Gorski Kotar. He was one of the few survivors of the battle at Matić Poljana, but was seriously wounded in the hip and spent some time in a hospital in Slovenia. After the war, Franjo returned to Šmrika and refused the offered house in Slovenia. He worked as a navigator on ships of the Yugoslav shipping company until retirement. In an interview, he mentioned that all members of his family were from Šmrika and that there were five brothers and three sisters. Franjo was the second oldest brother. So, Franjo Jelušić had five brothers and three sisters, and their parents were farmers from Šmrika. Before World War II, the family lived a hard life, and their income came from cows, sheep, and goats they kept, as well as selling kid goats and lambs. When they sold the animals, they went to Kraljevica where they sold them to butchers. The father had jobs, but only for a short time when a ship came to Kraljevica in the shipyard. Director Šilov organized a rotation in which people worked one week, then the other week so that everyone earned something. Franjo attended school in the same place, but they often had to go grazing instead of going to school. During World War II, news of the possibility of war was already coming to their place. They did not have money for newspapers, and information mostly came from other people. In addition to taking care of cattle, Franjo worked for a while in Frankopan, where the Yugoslav army was located during the reign of King Alexander. However, when World War II began, the army fell apart. Franjo says they already heard about it in 1942. He explained that various camps and attacks were happening at that time, and the younger generation, including them, didn’t really know why they were fighting or what communism or fascism meant. Franjo then talks about how they joined the partisans. They agreed to meet at a bend between Kraljevica and Bakarac, where five people from Hreljin and two from Šmrika gathered. Then they went to the camp in Grižane, where more people joined them.

Franjo talks about how they got their weapons through connections they had with the home guards and how everyone in the camp had a weapon, but not necessarily the same one. He talks about a colonel from Hreljin who had a connection with the partisans, and through him, weapons came to the camps. Finally, he talks about a case when someone came to the camp and was suspected of being an enemy collaborator. After being questioned, he stayed with the partisans and became one of them. Furthermore, Franjo speaks about his experiences in the Partisans during World War II in Croatia. He talks about how they captured 43 people at the beginning, including Ustaše members. After they lined them up, everyone had the opportunity to decide whether they wanted to stay with the Partisans or not. Nobody was forced to stay, and people were not killed. After that, the second partisan unit was created in the Jasenak camp. Then they moved to Drežnica, where Partisans from other camps and villages gathered, and the 14th brigade was formed. When they were stronger, they attacked Gomirje, a Chetnik stronghold, where they fought all day. Later, they attacked Ravna Gora, where they had good leadership and people who had fought in Spain. Although they were a bit late to Ravna Gora, they managed to fight well against the gendarmerie, which was strong in that area. He talks about how they fought near the Ferijalni dom in Ličko Petrovo Selo and how they managed to take over that building after some time. He also mentions that they were young men and armed. After they took over the building, they sent a little girl with a letter to their commander for surrender. The commander asked for an hour, but Franjo’s commander, Veljko Kovačević, gave him only five minutes, after which they would resume fighting. The Ustaše commander did not know what to do and decided to surrender. The Ustaše were lined up in front of the building, and when they saw Franjo and his comrades, who were on the other side, the Ustaše commander said, “Oh, to whom have I surrendered, just children.” After that, they were locked up in the building, and Franjo talked about how they were hungry and ate all the jam they found in the boxes in the building. After they armed themselves, this group of fighters became stronger and more capable. They started attacking garrisons and facing great challenges. Those who fought against them were paid soldiers who stood superior to them. However, these brave fighters managed to defend themselves, even when they faced an attack on the hospital in Tomići. Although the opponents had weapons, these fighters stuck together and managed to defend the hospital. Unfortunately, the hospital was later set on fire, and the wounded who were in it perished. After that, the fighters faced many more challenges, including numerous offensives, and their lives were full of uncertainty and danger. Franjo further talks about the battle for Bosiljevo, saying that they managed to hold Bosiljevo until the food and weapons were taken out. This was a designated place where food and weapons were loaded. Civil authorities were responsible for this, but the fighters made sure that everything was organized and moved on. Franjo talks about Lešnica, which was located before Brod na Kupi and where there was nothing to eat. After that, he talks about the war events, especially the battle at Matić Poljana, which took place in the middle of February. He describes how they received orders to go to Drežnica, where they had lunch and dry food that they immediately ate. After that, they went to Jasenak, and the commander gave a brief speech emphasizing the importance of mutual assistance in case something went wrong. The presence of medical personnel in the operational unit is also mentioned. When two more battalions arrived, there were a total of three battalions. The first battalion was sent to Ledenice for food. When they went into the forest, they found a couple of horses, two men, and one woman loading wood onto a cart. After they said goodbye, they continued on and halfway to Drežnica they felt a strong gust of wind. As they progressed, it became colder. When they opened up Matić clearing, the wind was whipping them hard, but their socks and woolen underwear saved them. They had good raincoats that protected them. During the march, no one could help anyone else. If someone stopped, they simply lay down in the snow and stayed there. 26 people died at Matić clearing. After they arrived in Mrkopalj, the commander invited them to go further to the village of Tuk, which was later called Vojni Tuk. After that, Franjo participated in the conquest of Lošinj, which was also challenging. He describes the female partisans who were on the battlefield, some as operatives and some as caretakers of the wounded, but regardless of the job they did, they were extremely brave women. Franjo talks about how he was offered a house in Slovenia, but he refused because it was not something his family had acquired, but belonged to someone else. He returned to his hometown and for a while worked as a navigator on a boat. It was a good job, he sailed and thus saw many places, and that’s how he reached retirement. He doesn’t have kind words for the present times and doesn’t believe that things will get better in the near future, but he advises young people to learn, especially a trade, not to engage in wars, and to try to create a better future.