Lipej Kolenik

Lipej Kolenik

Short Biography

Lipej Kolenik was born on the 22.9.1925 in Margarethen near Bleiburg/Šmarjeta pri Pliberku. He had his first contact with partisans in spring 1943. He did courier jobs. In August 1943, he had to go to the Wehrmacht; firstly, to be trained, but soon he was transtered to Slovenia and in the end of 1943 to the Italian front. Here he got heavy frostbites on his feet and was moved to several military hospitals, in the end to Klagenfurt. On the occasion of a visit on the farm of his parents, he deserted to the partisans. He was active in various units. In March, he was severely wounded and witnessed the liberation hidden in a bunker, with hardly any medical support. After war he was unemployed and stayed politically active. He was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned. He is chairman of the Carinthian partisan association.