Spomenik na Gricku

Adlešiči is a village on the Kolpa river in Bela Krajina, the far southeastern corner of Slovenia, in the municipality of Črnomelj, and its surroundings were a theatre of the partisan struggle during the Second World War. Bela Krajina was one of the regions where the resistance movement was strongest, and the villages and hills here saw fighting, reprisals and heavy losses. The monument on Gricek, a small hill, commemorates the victims of the war from the surrounding area, and it is one of the artistic highlights among the many memorials of the National Liberation Struggle in the country.

The work is notable for its sculpture. The stone figures are by Jakob Savinšek, one of the leading Slovenian sculptors of the postwar decades, who made a number of important monuments to the resistance and the victims of the war. His figures are not realistic portraits. They are stylised, angular, simplified forms, with elongated bodies and expressive gestures that convey grief, suffering and endurance, and the effect is to make the memorial more universal than a naturalistic statue would be. Some critics have compared the intensity of the style to the modern European art of the early twentieth century and to the sculptural language that grew up around anti-war works of the period, but the monument can be appreciated without any art-historical background. The architectural setting was planned to give the figures a place in the landscape, and the monument stands on a rise so that it can be seen from some distance and so that visitors approach it in a deliberate way.

The site is a place of quiet reflection. It stands in open countryside, with meadows and woods around and the sound of wind and birds, and a visit usually takes less than an hour. There is no ticket and no fixed opening time, so it can be visited whenever you like. Information boards may explain the history of the place, but you should be prepared to read about it beforehand or ask locally. As with any memorial, behave respectfully, do not climb on the structure and take away your litter.

The monument sits among the other sights of Adlešiči. Canoeing and Rafting at Jankovič (Stari pod), Kanuing Kupa, Jankovič (Stari pod) Camping, Wooden glamping houses and the Natural swimming pool at Tržkov slap are for summer fun, Pivovarne Vizir offers local beer, and the Production of home linen, embroidery, and Easter eggs, Galerija Kambič and the Cultural-Artistic Community 'Božo Račič' show the cultural life of the village.

It suits visitors interested in twentieth-century history, public art and the rural landscape of Bela Krajina. Set on a quiet rise, the Spomenik na Gricku is among Slovenia’s more moving partisan monuments, and the sculptures are often compared with Picasso’s Guernica for their intensity.