brochure “Partizanski spomenik u Mostaru” (1980)
book “Spomenica Mostara 1941-1945.”
another document or proof of the memorial stone (e.g., a photograph).
Smail A. TOPUZ
SMAIL TOPUZ, son of ALIJA, born on January 10, 1928, in Blagaj near Mostar. Farmer. Joined the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments on February 16, 1945, in the 11th Herzegovina Brigade. A fighter, he died in the battles for the liberation of Logatec in Slovenia on May 3 or 4, 1945.
EXCERPT FROM LITERATURE:
“On May 3, the 13th Brigade continued its attack on Rakek and Unec near Cerknica, and the 11th Brigade – on Grčarevac and Jasikovci, in front of D. Logatec. The 13th Brigade, with minimal losses, liberated Unec and Rakek on the same day, and the next day, on May 4, after a one-hour battle, Cerknica and Grahovo. However, the Division Headquarters had to engage the main part of the Artillery Brigade and the next day, two battalions from the 14th Brigade from its general reserve on the Logatec axis. Around 9 pm on May 3, the 11th Brigade, with strong artillery support and heavy losses on the enemy side, destroyed the most heavily defended defense stronghold in Grčarevac, and the next day, with the envelopment and the division reserve, the villages of Kalce and Upper Logatec were liberated. With several more concentrations of artillery fire (247 shells of 75-105 mm), Logatec was also liberated. The strongholds in front of Logatec (Grčarevac, k. 511, Kale) represented the last positions where the Division could be prevented from accessing the Ljubljana Marshes. That is why they defended them so fiercely. The backbone of the defense consisted of one German and 2nd Shock Battalion of the Slovene Home Guard under the command of Vuk Rupnik, and they were reinforced with 2 tanks and a battery of 100 mm howitzers. There were also remnants of the SS non-commissioned officer school, two to three garrison companies of the Slovene Home Guard, and some Chetniks, unidentified in terms of formation and number. In the battles for the liberation of Logatec and Cerknica, the Division had over 40 fallen fighters and officers, as well as slightly less than a hundred wounded (…).”
In Logatec, a monument was erected after the war in honor of the fallen partisans.
Komnenović, Danilo; Kreso, Muharem (1979): 29. hercegovačka divizija, IZ, Beograd ; grupa autora: Spomenica Mostara 1941-1945.
Photo of the memorial plaque: S. Demirović.
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