Olga Ban
Born(1926-06-29)29 June 1926[lower-alpha 1]
Zarečje, Kingdom of Italy
Died8 October 1943(1943-10-08) (aged 17)[lower-alpha 2]
Pazin
Years active1941–1943
Known forResistance against Nazi occupation
Parent
  • Mate Ban (father)
Awards

Olga Ban (29 June 1926[lower-alpha 1] – 8 October 1943[lower-alpha 2]) was a Croatian partisan. She was part of the resistance against Axis forces in World War II until Nazis executed her father and her in 1943. She was posthumously declared a People's Hero of Yugoslavia in 1973.

Early life

Olga Ban was born on 29 June 1926[lower-alpha 1] to Mate Ban and Ana Dušan in Zarečje, near Pazin, Istria,[1] then under the administration of the Kingdom of Italy. After Olga finished elementary school, she started helping his father at work as a tailor. Mate Ban was involved in the progressive publication Edinost from Trieste.[3]

Resistance and execution

As World War II escalated, in 1941, Ban's family home became a hub for the local partisans of the National Liberation Movement in Croatia (NOP) in their resistance against the Axis powers.[2][3] Ban joined the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ) in February 1942 and participated in partisan activities, sewing clothes or performing courier duties.[3] On 16 June 1943, Ban and her father were admitted to the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in a partisan base in Brgudac.[2]

The Carabinieri arrested her mother Ana and brother Antun and imprisoned them in the Coroneo prison in Trieste. They were released after the Armistice of Cassibile in September 1943.[5] On 10 September 1943, Ban returned to Istria to conduct youth organization.[5]

During the German offensive, on 6 October 2943, Nazi forces arrested and imprisoned her in the Pazin Castle, and then executed Olga, her father Mate, and several other Istrians in the Pazin cemetery.[5] Her mother and brother were deported to the Dachau concentration camp.[5]

Legacy

Olga Ban memorial in Titov park in Pula.

In 1973, Olga Ban was posthumously declared a People's Hero of Yugoslavia by President Josip Broz Tito.[2][3][5][6][4]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 While most sources note 29 June 1926 as date of birth,[1][2][3][4] some others note 26 June 1926[5] or 1925.[6]
  2. 1 2 While most sources note 8 October 1943 as date of death,[2][3][4] some others note 7 or 8 October 1943.[5][6]

References

  1. 1 2 Buršić, Herman (1973). "Razvitak i provala organizacija NOP-a na Pazinštini u 1943. godini." [The Development of the Organizations belonging to National Liberation Movement in the Area of Pazin in 1943]. Pazinski memorijal (in Croatian). Vol. 4. pp. 131–149.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Sob., M. (1982). "Ban Olga". Narodni heroji Jugoslavije, A-M (in Croatian). pp. 60–61.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Humski, Vera (1983). "BAN, Olga". Croatian Biographical Lexicon (in Croatian).
  4. 1 2 3 "Olga Ban". Grad Pazin (in Croatian). Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Buršić, Herman. "Ban, Olga". Istarska enciklopedija (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 9 December 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 "Olga Ban". Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 8 December 2023.
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