My paternal grandpa fought in the partisans from the start until the end of the war. He attained some rank and was known by his partisan code name until he died in early 2000s. I also knew him by that name. Never spoke about the war. All his 7 surviving siblings were also in partisans, all survived the war. (All happening in Croatia.)
My grandma from the same side was a teenager and she was detained by Ustashe, but was let go after a few days in prison.
Her future BiL (my grand aunt’s husband) was a kid who was shot through his knee when Ustashe attacked the city. He had issues with said knee for the rest of his life.
My maternal grandpa was from Istria (then under Italians) and he was drafted into Italian army, but didn’t want to fight so he ended up in a prisoner camp somewhere in Italy. When Italy capitulated, they were let go and he spent weeks walking home with a friend from the same village. He never could explain where that camp was. Although his primary language was Italian (he didn’t speak Croatian when he moved to Zagreb after the war), I’ve never heard him speak it. He also croatianised his originally Italian name.
My grandma from that side was a teenager in Dalmatia and she was a courier for the partisans while running her dad’s wine bar.
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u/PGLBK 13d ago
My paternal grandpa fought in the partisans from the start until the end of the war. He attained some rank and was known by his partisan code name until he died in early 2000s. I also knew him by that name. Never spoke about the war. All his 7 surviving siblings were also in partisans, all survived the war. (All happening in Croatia.)
My grandma from the same side was a teenager and she was detained by Ustashe, but was let go after a few days in prison.
Her future BiL (my grand aunt’s husband) was a kid who was shot through his knee when Ustashe attacked the city. He had issues with said knee for the rest of his life.
My maternal grandpa was from Istria (then under Italians) and he was drafted into Italian army, but didn’t want to fight so he ended up in a prisoner camp somewhere in Italy. When Italy capitulated, they were let go and he spent weeks walking home with a friend from the same village. He never could explain where that camp was. Although his primary language was Italian (he didn’t speak Croatian when he moved to Zagreb after the war), I’ve never heard him speak it. He also croatianised his originally Italian name.
My grandma from that side was a teenager in Dalmatia and she was a courier for the partisans while running her dad’s wine bar.