Partisan Karel Klun-Marko, originally from Gorenje village near Ribnica in Dolenjska, is buried in the cemetery next to the Šmihel / St. Micheal parish church. He was born on 18 July 1926 and died on 25 November 1944 in Rute pri Bistrica nad Pliberkom / Ruttach bei Feistritz ob Bleiburg near the Biceljn farm (landlord Vinko Pečnik). He was also temporarily buried there. On 28 October 1947, partisan Mark was reburied in the parish cemetery in Šmihel / St. Micheal. From then on, the grave a few steps east of the church was always well tended. It is adorned with flowers of love and respect. Even now, when the partisan's grave is marked by a new stone obelisk, the vase for flowers is never empty. The inscription on the monument is simple, carved in both regional languages:
To the Fallen Partisan 1941 - 1945
Karel Klun-Marko
On the side of the monument it is noted that the tombstone was erected by the Association of Carithian Partisans in 1971.
The fallen fighter Karel Klun-Marko was a member of the SKOJ District Committee for Dobrepolje in Dolenjska, where he was known among the locals as Kovačev Kori. He was sent to Carinthia in early 1944 to help organise the youth to resist Nazism. Marko volunteered for this work, even though he knew the trouble he was getting into, as he was not a native of the area. He was driven by the desire to help his fellow countrymen in the unequal struggle against a much stronger enemy. Marko stumbled to his death young, only eighteen years old …
Location:
Šmihel / St. Michael lies on the road between Dobrla vas / Ebrndorf and Pliberk / Bleiburg, with the Peca / Petzen hillside rising up to the south, marking the entire region with its grandeur.