POLITICS DIVIDES, people connect

Museums connect the divided world

 

Sensu:

 

Terčon, Nadja: »Usidrali smo se na morje«: Vzpostavitev slovenskega pomorstva 1945–1958. Piran, 2015, pp. 241-243.

 

The divided world of Istria and Trieste after World War II

 

The spring of 1945, which heralded the end of the war and freedom, was not a turning point in the narrow coastal as well as wider Primorska region like in the entire Slovenian territory, which instantly became an integral part of the federal Slovenia. The region was marked by hastened reconstruction and transformation of economic and social life. In 1947, when the first reconstruction in the People's Republic of Slovenia was almost accomplished, it had only just begun in the Primorska region. The internationalization of the territorial dispute between Yugoslavia and Italy had powerful economic and social consequences. The larger, solely Slovenian part of Zone B of the Slovenian Littoral Region was annexed to the People's Republic of Slovenia or FLRJ (Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia) upon the signing of the peace treaty with Italy on 10 February 1947 and the treaty becoming legally binding on 15 September 1947, whereas its smaller part, the Koper district, was included, together with the Buje district, into the newly established Free Territory of Trieste (FTT). This part measured 516 square kilometres and, in spite of the increasingly strong enforcement of the Yugoslav socio-economic order, Italian sovereignty over it ceased as late as on 15 September 1954. The Military Administration of the Yugoslav Army (VUJA), which was the top judicial authority in Zone B, supervised the implementation of various agreements between Italy and Yugoslavia, ordained measures important for the entire zone, and coordinated the work between the national liberation committees and the organs of the hinterland military authority and military offices outside the zone. The border between the FTT zones incised badly into the more than a century strong attachment of Istria to Trieste. As a first-class centre of this area, Trieste attracted with its economic power the population from the nearby hinterland in several ways, and as from the entire Habsburg Monarchy. Istrians travelled to Trieste mostly by ships. Among these passengers were also women, both from Piran and its hinterland.

 

After a quarrel with a group of women, Zorko Tavčar, Director of the Agmarit Maritime Agency at that time, admired the courage, diligence, fearlessness, determination, thriftiness, unbending nature and resourcefulness of the women who stood up to him and said, in his own style, but with great respect: "Yes, those were true "gutsy girls"!" (Zorko Tavčar, first Director of Agmarit, 19 June 1989) This proves that the hinterland women epitomised daily labour migrations and indicates how women had to adapt and also knew how to do this, as well as to cope with anything and, above all, how women's autonomy and active role increased in this area, too,  and how they, in their own way, surpassed and connected the divided world created by politics.

 

 

Zorko Tavčar, the ship Vida and the women of Piran

 

The steamer Vida was built  in Trieste and christened Tatra. After World War I, she was allocated to The Jadranska plovidba shipping company, which renamed her Triglav. Just prior to World War II, her deck was extended into a closed saloon, with the bow raised, and the bridge enhanced. After the end of World War II (1946), she was renovated at Sušak near Rijeka. She was first managed by the Yugoslav shipping agency from Trieste, which renamed her Vida once more. The ship was eventually handed over to Jadrolinija in Rijeka, which gave her on lease to the Agmarit shipping agency in Piran. The ship sailed between Piran, Koper and Trieste till 1953. After 1954, she sailed mainly within the Rijeka and Split shipping districts; in 1965 she was cut for scrap in Split.

 

Zorko Tavčar, Director of Agmarit, had the following to say about the ship and an interesting event connected with her to the employees of  the Piran Museum   (https://pomorskimuzej.si/sl/digitalne-zbirke/ljudje-morja/tavcar-zorko)

 

"The Vida steamer was built for 400 passengers, but the Harbourmaster Anton Perko issued a permit for 600 passengers. She sailed on the Novigrad-Trieste line, and twice more in the afternoons on the shorter Koper-Trieste line. Many passengers travelled with her, mostly women. At that time, the need was great. Her crew was from Piran. From the very beginning, I couldn't find a captain for her. So, I gave her to a Fragiacomo from Piran. Then VUJA suddenly ordered the ship not to sail to Trieste. What should I tell my people? The best thing was to say that the ship was broken down and in need of repair. I still laugh at the thought when I see these "gutsy girls" coming to me.

 

About 300 "gutsy girls", one after another, came to my office, which was where the health center is stationed today. And the police fled. They got scared. They thought it was a revolution. I was scared, too. That they come to my office ... who is going to put all these papers together again? And I wanted to close the door. But they said they wanted to go to Trieste. Then go, I told them. You have husbands who have ships, trabacollos, board them and go, for my sake ... But no, they said they wanted to go with Vida. Oh no, you won't go with Vida! And then they went from Koper. Yes, those were the "gutsy girls"! And then our people locked them up, to work in some cooperative fields in Koper. On Saturdays they let them go home, and on Mondays they went back to work. And then those sailors came to me. Hey, captain Tavčar, tell your people to let them go home... I can’t cook, I have children...".

 

This is an interesting event, testifying to how very important maritime transport was in those times, what the mutual relations were like in the city, and how important the economic ties with Trieste were for the local population. Its reactions to the attempts by the authorities to prevent the residents from crossing into Zone A were sometimes truly dramatic. But they always found a way to connect and surpass the division imposed on them.

 

Events of the Slovenian museums’ online campaign can be followed on the web under the hashtags:

 

#naprejvpreteklost, #muzejiinskupnost, #dediščinapovezuje, and #muzejbrezmeja, from 13 to 19 April 2026.