Editing Franc Rozman

{{Short description|Slovenian partisan commander (1912–1944)}}
{{Infobox military person
|name         = Franc Rozman
|birth_name   = 
|birth_date   = {{birth-date|27 March 1911}}
|birth_place  = [[Spodnje Pirniče]], [[Carniola]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
|death_date   = {{d-da|7 November 1944|27 March 1911}}
|death_place  = [[Lokve, Črnomelj]], [[Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral|Adriatic Littoral]], [[Nazi Germany]]<br>{{small|(now [[Slovenia]])}}
|image        = Franc Rozman-Stane.jpg
|caption      = Rozman in 1943
|other_name   = Stane Mlinar
|allegiance   = [[Royal Yugoslav Army]]<br />[[International Brigades]]<br />[[Slovene partisans|Liberation Front of the Slovenian People.]]
|serviceyears = 1932–1939; 1941–1944
|rank         = [[Lieutenant General]]
|commands     = [[Slovene Partisans]]
|awards       = [[Order of the People's Hero|People's Hero of Yugoslavia]]
}}

'''Franc Rozman''', nom de guerre '''Stane''' (Slovene convention: ''Franc Rozman – Stane'') or '''Stane Mlinar'''<ref name="Klanjscek">Klanjšček, Zdravko. 1996. "Rozman, Franc – Stane." ''Enciklopedija Slovenije'', vol. 10. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, pp. 297–98.</ref> (27 March 1911 – 7 November 1944),<ref name="Klanjscek"/> was a [[Slovene partisans|Slovene Partisan commander]] in [[World War II]].

==Early life==
[[File:Franc Rozman house.JPG|thumb|left|House where Franc Rozman was born]]
Franc Rozman was born in the [[Carniola]]n village of [[Spodnje Pirniče]]<ref name="Savnik">Savnik, Roman, ed. 1971. ''Krajevni leksikon Slovenije'', vol. 2. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, p. 384.</ref> near [[Ljubljana]], part of [[Austria-Hungary]] at the time, to a [[Slovenes|Slovene]] working-class family. His father Franc Rozman was a railway track-worker, while his mother Marjana (née Stare) was a housewife. He was the third of four children, with two elder sisters, Marjeta and Terezija, and a younger brother, Martin.

At the age of three, Rozman's father died on the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]], where he fought as a soldier in the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]]. Rozman had a poor and hard childhood. His sisters Marjeta and Terezija were sent to an orphanage, while Franc and his brother Martin remained in Pirniče. At the age of 15, he worked in a tavern and then trained as an apprentice baker.<ref name="Klanjscek"/><ref name="Mala">''Mala splošna enciklopedija'', vol. 3. 1976. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenija, p. 257.<!--ISSN/ISBN needed--></ref>

As a young boy he had great enthusiasm for a military career, but his application to the military school was rejected. In spring 1932, he did his military service in the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Royal Yugoslav]] army.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

==Military experience prior to World War II==
In 1935, after the [[Second Italo–Abyssinian War|Italian invasion of Ethiopia]], Rozman tried unsuccessfully to join the Ethiopian forces fighting the Italian invaders. Soon after the outbreak of the [[Spanish Civil War]], he decided to travel to Spain. Rozman was among the first Yugoslav volunteers in Spain, where he, on 1 October 1936 joined the [[International Brigades]]. In November 1936 he became a member of the Spanish Communist Party.<ref name="Klanjscek"/><ref name="Mala"/>

In [[Jarama]] he completed non commissioned officers' school, became a lieutenant and a commander of a company, then captain and commander of a battalion. His comrades in arms remembered him as an energetic and earnest person. After the Spanish Civil War, he was imprisoned in France.{{Why|date=March 2016}}<ref name="Klanjscek"/> He became a member of the Yugoslav Communist Party in 1939.<ref name="Mala"/> In April 1941 he was imprisoned and sentenced to forced labor in Germany. In July the same year he fled Germany and returned to Yugoslavia.<ref name="Klanjscek"/>

==World War II==
For a while, Rozman lived with an activist of the [[Liberation Front of the Slovenian People]]. In early December 1941, he visited his younger brother, Martin, after which he joined the [[Slovene partisans|Slovene partisan resistance]]. 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 the Savinja companies (''Revirske in Savinjske čete''), which were active in [[Lower Styria|Styria]] in the autumn of 1941. He participated in the attack on [[Šoštanj]] and later in the [[Battle of Čreta]]. The Germans repeatedly tried to liquidate Rozman, setting many ambushes.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

In the April 1942 Rozman became the commander of a Slovene partisan brigade,<ref name="Klanjscek"/> established on 5 April 1942 at Kremenik in [[Lower Carniola]], 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 13 July 1943, he became a commander of the High Command of the Slovene partisan army<ref name="Klanjscek"/> with the rank of [[lieutenant general]] (''generallajtnant''), which he held up to his death.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

Rozman died on 7 November 1944, aged 33, in [[White Carniola]] as a consequence of a serious wound received while testing newly arrived [[PIAT]] weapons sent to the partisans by their British [[Allies of World War II|Allies]]. There were some rumors that he was killed by sabotage by the [[Chetniks|Chetnik]] military authorities or at the behest of Partisan commander [[Arso Jovanović]],<ref name="Cascenje">[http://www.demokracija.eu/arhiv/arhivostalo/5680-aenje-vojnega-zloinca "Čaščenje vojnega zločinca"] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130213052616/http://www.demokracija.eu/arhiv/arhivostalo/5680-aenje-vojnega-zloinca |date=2013-02-13 }}, Demokracija.eu, 22 March 2011. {{in lang|sl}}</ref> but they have never been proven. He was proclaimed a [[Order of the People's Hero|People's Hero of Yugoslavia]] four days later, on 11 November 1944.<ref name="Klanjscek"/>

==Legacy==
"Commander Stane", as he was nicknamed by the partisan fighters, was one of the most prominent figures of the Yugoslav front of the Second World War. His legacy is controversial and questions have been raised about his involvement in wartime liquidations of civilians.<ref name="Cascenje"/><ref>[http://www.times.si/slovenija/franc-rozman-stane-vodja-ii-grupe-ki-je-mesecno-likvidirala-do-60-ljudi--7343beafb0-1fcfd7c95b.html Kolednik, Aleksander. 2012. "Franc Rozman Stane – vodja II. grupe, ki je mesečno likvidirala do 60 ljudi"] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130418144148/http://www.times.si/slovenija/franc-rozman-stane-vodja-ii-grupe-ki-je-mesecno-likvidirala-do-60-ljudi--7343beafb0-1fcfd7c95b.html |date=2013-04-18 }}, Times.si, 8 July 2012.{{in lang|sl}}</ref>

His legacy includes the following:
* There is a plaque on the house in Spodnje Pirniče where he was born,<ref name="Savnik"/> which has also been turned into a small museum.<ref>[http://giskd2s.situla.org/rkd/Opis.asp?Esd=5686 Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage] reference number ešd 5686</ref> A bust of Rozman also stands in front of the house.<ref>[http://giskd2s.situla.org/rkd/Opis.asp?Esd=5687 Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage] reference number ešd 5687</ref>
* There is a monument in downtown Ljubljana, at the corner of Slovene Street ({{lang|sl|Slovenska cesta}}) and Šubic Street ({{lang|sl|Šubičeva ulica}}), dedicated to Rozman.<ref>[http://giskd2s.situla.org/rkd/Opis.asp?Esd=5659 Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage] reference number ešd 5659</ref>
* The well-known partisan song "Komandant Stane" ('Commander Stane') is dedicated to him.<ref>Rozman, France, & Peter Stante-Skala. 1977. ''Komandant Stane: zbornik''. Ljubljana: Borec, p. 421.</ref>
* Many Slovene schools bear his name; for example, the Franc "Stane" Rozman primary schools in Ljubljana<ref>[http://www.osfrslj.si/ Ljubljana Franc "Stane" Rozman Primary School website] {{in lang|sl}}</ref> and Maribor.<ref>[http://www.o-frs.mb.edus.si/ Maribor Franc "Stane" Rozman Primary School website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707065559/http://www.o-frs.mb.edus.si/ |date=2012-07-07 }}, o-frs.mb.edus.si; accessed 12 March 2016.{{in lang|sl}}</ref>
* On 21 March 2011, Slovenia issued a [[€2 commemorative coins|two-euro commemorative coin]] to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Franc Rozman.<ref>[http://www.bsi.si/en/banknotes-and-coins.asp?MapaId=1402 100th anniversary of the birth of the national hero Franc Rozman–Stane]</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=OJ 2011/C 57/05|journal=Official Journal of the European Union|date=23 February 2011|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2011:057:0027:0027:EN:PDF|format=PDF}}</ref>
* The former [[Edvard Peperko Barracks|Franc "Stane" Rozman Barracks]] (''Vojašnica Franca Rozmana–Staneta'') at Ljubljana-Polje were named for Rozman until July 2012, when they were renamed in honor of [[Edvard Peperko]] (1966–1991), one of the first to fall in the Slovenian [[Ten-Day War]]. The renaming was opposed by the Partisan veteran organization, opposition parties, and one of the coalition parties.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rtvslo.si/slovenija/dl-franc-rozman-stane-ocitno-ni-padel-za-samostojno-slovenijo/286700|title=DL: Franc Rozman - Stane "očitno ni padel za samostojno Slovenijo"|language=sl|trans-title=DL: evidently Franc Rozman did not fall for an independent Slovenia|newspaper=MMC [[RTV Slovenija]]|date=4 July 2012}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Franc Rozman - Stane}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110501213000/http://www.zzb-nob.si/ustanova-f-r-staneta/ Rozman in a drawing by Slovene artist Božidar Jakac], zzb-nob.si; accessed 12 March 2016. {{in lang|sl}}

{{People of the Yugoslav Front}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rozman, Franc}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:Slovenian generals]]
[[Category:Slovenian people of World War II]]
[[Category:Yugoslav Partisans members]]
[[Category:Ethnic Slovene people]]
[[Category:International Brigades personnel]]
[[Category:People from the Municipality of Medvode]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero]]