On the initiative of the Ministry of Culture, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia declared 2023 as the year of the poet Karl Destovnik - Kajuh. The National and University Library will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Karel Destovnik - Kajuh with the exhibition Time of Life and Time of Death: Karel Destovnik Kajuh.
This December marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Karel Destovnik Kajuh. The poet died at the age of only twenty-one, but he left behind a rich heritage in verses and letters. His poetry is often identified with partisanship, but despite the fact that it is closely tied to these ideals and inseparable from the historical space and time in which it was created, it also has a deeper dimension that transcends space and time and touches the universal human.
We can divide Kajuh's poetry collection into two different periods in terms of style and content: the pre-war expressionist phase and the inter-war phase of the final shaping of his political views, interrupted by his premature death. However, it should be noted that Kajuh's expressionist-socialist and partisan-lyrical phases do not oppose each other, but complement each other, and it is quite possible to claim that his partisan lyrics are only a metamorphosis and progression of his pre-war motives.
Order of the National Hero (1953) - Kajuh was one of 156 Slovenian recipients of the Order of the National Hero, the Yugoslav decoration for heroic behavior, and besides Jože Moškrich, the only Slovenian writer to receive it.
Our Association took over this exhibition, which was previously exhibited in Sarajevo, from the Association of Slovenians from Tuzla. The exhibition was set up in the premises of our Association. At the opening of the exhibition, on 24 July, we presented the biography of the poet to the visitors, and our members recited the verses of his poems. An appropriate cocktail was also served in a pleasant literary atmosphere. The exhibition will be open until mid-October. We look forward to your visit to the exhibition.
Ljiljana Memon
Samo en cvet, en češnjev cvet
Samo en cvet, en češnjev cvet,
dehteč in bel
odlomi, moja draga!
Ne bom ga za klobuk pripel,
ne bom ga v gumbnico si del,
odlomi ga, odlomi, draga!
Jaz bom ljudem poslal ta cvet,
vsakomur, ki na križ pripet
trpi v pomladi tej …
In glej, ta drobni češnjev cvet
bo v njih izbrisal malodušja sled
in spet razžaril tožni jim pogled.
Samo en bel, en češnjev cvet
odlomi, moja draga,
saj veš, kako vsak tak pozdrav
človeku za rešetkami pomaga.
