He Believed in a Different Slovenia

SLOVENIA, May 31 - This month's archivalia focuses on the memory of Franc Miklavčič, a judge, Christian socialist, and visionary. He was born on September 29, 1921, in Ljubljana to parents Franc and Konstancija, née Gleeson. After completing grammar school, he went on to study law, during which time he associated with likeminded students in the Zarja association, one of the pro-Catholic student and academic societies at the University of Ljubljana. As a Christian socialist, he joined the Partisan movement in 1942. In the summer of that same year, he was interned and remained so until the autumn of the following year, when he rejoined the Partisans. For his heroism, he was awarded the Order of the Republic with Bronze Wreath, the Order for the Merit to the People, 3. Class, the Order of Bravery, and the Partisan decoration of the Republic of Poland. After the war, he served as a judge in various courts; his last post was at the District Court in Ljubljana.

As a student, he spent time with Janko Pučnik, who initially studied history but, after the war, became a professor of meteorology and later served as the last president of the Zarja association. Miklavčič also befriended Fedor Bevc, a future lawyer and a judge, and during the war formed friendships with Alfonz Koren and Stanko Osterc. These youthful friendships and shared moral convictions provided a solid foundation for continued contacts in later years as well. Their conversations inevitably touched on various topics concerning the history of the Slovenian nation - stretching back to the Middle Age, the Counts of Celje, up to a more recent history and the Second World War. Between 1971 and 1972, Franc Miklavčič drafted a ten-page political programme entitled “Thesis for the Constitution of the United Slovenia”, which included twelve points: 1. the formation of the Slovenian state, 2. a united Slovenia, 3. a democratic political system of the state, 4. national reconciliation, 5. the liberalization of economy, 6. free trade unions for the protection of worker’s rights, 7. agriculture, the preservation and protection of the Slovenian farmer, 8. the separation of Church and state, with recognition of Christian ethics as the basis of interpersonal relations, 9. the development of our own political ideology, 10. People-centred movement, 11. not allies of the system, but an opposition, and 12. collective leadership within the party.

Miklavčič, together with his fellow thinkers, opposed the Dolomite Declaration, as did many Christian socialists, who began criticizing it soon after it was signed. The declaration, signed on February 28, 1943, by the Communist Party of Slovenia, the Sokol movement, and the group of Christian socialists, and confirmed at the meeting of the Liberation Front activists, stated that »the relations between the Christian socialists and the Communist Party of Slovenia, in accordance with the actual state of affairs and in the interest of the Liberation Front, are to be arranged in such a way that the Christian socialist group remains merely an expression of the transition of the Slovenian Catholic masses towards advanced national and social positions and of their cooperation in such positions. For this reason, the Christian socialist group does not and will not organize a separate political organization of its own«. According to Miklavčič, the question of existence or non-existence of political parties should have been settled after the war in such a way that the Slovenian Catholics would have their own political party. As this did not happen, he believed that the political programme of a future independent Slovenia should provide for a political system that would allow the operation of all political parties, except for fascist ones.

Realizing the importance of national reconciliation, he wrote in his draft programme (citing the verdict): »National reconciliation would allow us to put the legacy of the past two wars behind us, including the conflict between the Partisans and the White Guards, and to draw the necessary consequences from it … Although it is true that the Whites collaborated with the occupying forces, it is also true that the Reds did little to prevent pushing them into occupiers’ hands through terror and so-called liquidations. Moreover, the communists abused the victory that was a joint achievement of all of us. They politically eliminated their allies within the Liberation Front and created a one-party totalitarian regime that divided citizens into two categories – the white and the black, i. e. the members and supporters of the ruling political party and the rest of the population. Although the latter form a majority, we have no political rights, no equal access to employment, and no opportunity to develop our personalities freely. In its consequences, the National Liberation Struggle revealed itself to be a civil war which, after a quarter of a century, must finally be brought to an end, together with its consequences. To accept the principle of a national reconciliation after all this does not simply mean to forgive our political opponents for their wrongdoings, but also to share responsibility for the actions of the regime.  The truth about the so-called National Liberation Struggle differs, requiring not only a number of new evaluations, but a change of the political system as well. This entails a reassessment of the Slovenian political history, particularly from 1941 onwards; the ending of the communist party’s a monopoly over education and the creating of ideologically non-engaged, neutral, schools; the creation of independent and professional services within state administration and in the field of public media, like radio and television;  depoliticization of the army, etc. But the process must go even further. Those responsible for the war crimes on the other side must also be held accountable, including those responsible for physical liquidations – murders, post-war extrajudicial killings of 11,000 Home Guard soldiers. We need to rehabilitate those wrongly accused in staged political trials, such as the Dachau trials and trials against the so-called Cominform supporters …«

Regarding economic liberalization, he argued that Marxism as a general economic system had failed. He maintained that private ownership of the means of production should be liberalized, and that free professions, crafts, agriculture, as well as small trade and industry should be privatized, along with partial privatization of road, air and maritime transport. The state would continue to own banks, wholesale trade, heavy and military industry, as well as state services, such as the post, railway, hospitals, social security services, etc. He supported the idea od free trade unions, which he saw as an economic counterweight to the potential exploitation of workers by the capital. The farmer’s confidence in the value of his profession needed to be restored, and farmers needed to be integrated into Slovenian society as equal partners. If they so wished, the Church and Christians should be allowed to run their private schools, kindergartens, and shelters.

In support of Edvard Kocbek, whose interview drew criticism from both the Slovenian and Yugoslav public, Miklavčič wrote an article titled »Political Lie or Historical Truth« and personally delivered it to Boris Pahor in Trieste, who published it in March 1976 in the literary and cultural magazine Zaliv; Miklavčič signed the article under the pseudonym Jože Galičič. In his defence, he stated that he had written the article on his own initiative as his response to a one-sided condemnation of Kocbek’s interview. 

On October 15, 1976, the District Court in Kranj found Miklavčič guilty of the criminal offence of endangering the unity and independence of the state (Article 101/I of the Criminal Code), the criminal offence of hostile propaganda (Article 118/II in conjunction with Article 118/I of the Criminal Code), and disclosure of official secret (Article 320/II of the Criminal Code), allegedly committed when he removed an archival file from the district court. He was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison. 

This month’s archivalia is a statement written by judge Franc Miklavčič for the public session of the Supreme Court of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, which was the court responsible for deciding on his appeal. In his appeal and statement, he expressed remorse but emphasized the fact that he had joined the Partisans and later continued to participate in the Yugoslav social system, while remaining a Christian socialist and advocating for a form of socialism based on the Christian ethics. The Supreme Court reduced his sentence to two years and six months in prison. 

Franc Miklavčič was never a member of the communist party. In 1989, he was one of the founders of the Christian social movement, which later adopted the name Slovenian Christian Democrats. He lived to see the gaining of the independence of the Slovenian state. After his departure from the Slovenian Christian Democrats party in 1994, he participated the following year in the founding of the Christian Social Union – Cristian Socialists and remained the president of the party until his death in July 2008. He was an honorary member of the Helsinki Monitor of Slovenia for human rights. 

Aida Škoro Babić