During the Second World War, Croatia, a former part of Yugoslavia, battled German and Italian fascists. On April 6, 1941, Axis forces invaded Yugoslavia, and Croatia became a puppet state. Despite these setbacks to the country’s freedom, Istria made itself a large contributor to the victory against anti-fascist militias. The region prides itself on its freedom-fighting spirit with various statues, memorials, and sculptures.
From 1943 to 1945, there were roughly 29,000 Istrian fighters combating fascism. In 1956, Croatia unveiled a monument to commemorate the resilient efforts of the partisans and victims of the war. The sculptor Ivan Savolic was born in Croatian and was a member of the sculptors who wanted to move away from socialist realism. These sculptors were mid-20th-century artists who favored Croatian traditions. Some of Savolic’s works include the Three Fists in Serbia’s Bubanj Memorial Park.
Alongside the monument, Rovinj has two statue busts of fellow freedom fighters Giuseppe Budicin and Matteo Benussi. There is limited knowledge about their lives, but Budicin was born in Rovinj. He organized resistance to the movement in 1943. Sadly, in 1944, the Axis forces captured and killed him, with his body and two others (Guerrino Grassi and Giovanni Sossi) displayed on the Valdibora River. Although details about Benussi’s life remain scarce, he was a worker and communist militant, also one of the first to join the resistance. Benussi specifically dedicated himself to acts of sabotage.
After the war, he humbly turned down political and honorary positions to work with volunteers in rebuilding railways, roads, and factories. The Yugoslavian government gave him the official title of “People’s Hero” in 1953, two years after his death.
