Zvone Žitnik, Dnevnik vojnih dni 1944–1945

Title: Zvone Žitnik, Dnevnik vojnih dni 1944–1945 (Diary of War Days 1944–1945) (handwritten diary, 1945)
Author: Zvone Žitnik (1923–1945)
Type: unpublished manuscript
Genre: diary, memoir
Format: 13cm
Material: paper
Length: 173 pages
Publisher: unknown (Zvone Žitnik)
Provenience: Catholic Institute, Studia Slovenica; evidence number: ASS 121 ŽITNIK ZVONE
Notes: The war diary of Zvone Žitnik (1923–1946), a second lieutenant, illustrator and associate of the propaganda department of the Littoral home guard (Slovenian National Defense Corps), is a first-person view of the war developments through the eyes of a young second lieutenant operating in a less familiar branch of the Slovenian Home Guard; as such, it is invaluable to historiography. It covers the situation “in the field” in real time, including various content, such as skirmishes, everyday life with the local population, personal happenings, the attitude towards the German occupying forces and the post-war Allied authorities in Italy, reflections on political plans and expectations regarding the time after the war. The diary covers the period between Žitnik joining the units of the Littoral Home Guard in May 1944 and his unfortunate death by drowning while staying in a refugee camp in Eboli, southern Italy, in June 1946.

Copyright: open-access work

The complete document in digital form is available HERE.

A summary of the diary (in Slovenian) is available HERE.

First page of the “Diary of War Days 1944–1945”