Partisan printing presses

The printed word was very important for spreading the ideas of the liberation front and encouraging people in the struggle against the occupying forces. In southern Primorska all printing was done on cyclostyle machines. These were used to duplicate propaganda material – leaflets, newspapers, liberation bulletins, pamphlets, and so on. Up until the capitulation of Italy, two clandestine cyclostyle printing shops operated in the area of Slovene Istria, the Brkini Hills and Ilirska Bistrica – in Slovene Istria the Southern Primorska printing shop, later renamed Naš Dom; and the Bistra printing shop for the needs of the Ilirska Bistrica district. Naš Dom continued operating after the capitulation and was renamed Snežnik. In April 1944 a further clandestine printing shop, called Žena (“Woman”) was set up for the needs of the women’s organisation. The Brkini district committee of the liberation front founded the Slavnik printing shop in March 1944, while the Morje (“Sea”) printing shop operated on the outskirts of Trieste from December 1943 onwards, later moving into the city itself.
In June 1944 the clandestine printing shops in Primorska underwent a reorganisation. From now on the cyclostyle printing shops and Partisan printing presses came under the aegis of the regional printing shop of the KPS for the entire Slovene Littoral. For reasons of secrecy, the printing shops were henceforth referred to by letters and numbers. Snežnik became F-35, Slavnik was N-43 and Morje was O-44.