Graduates (from left): Primož Aplek, Peter Lobe, Janez Belič, Alenka Firm, Margareta Gašperšič, Janez Belič, Ala Peče, Alenka Bajec Velkavrh and Elga Rosina Brezar. Photo: Bojan Velikonja
“We remained friends”: for the 70th graduation anniversary together again at the same table
A company gathered in a Ljubljana restaurant, which today counts much more than just years. Students of the former 8th grade of the 1st high school in Ljubljana celebrated the 70th anniversary of graduation. The long table, at which eight former classmates sat, was full of memories, names that are no longer there, as well as humor that apparently has not faded over the years.
“We are among the last representatives of the generation that survived the Second World War,” she said calmly Ala Pece. And then, almost casually, she unfolded the century of history that they carry on their shoulders: “The post-war period was not easy, all the goodness and confusion of the Yugoslav state, all the craziness…” Her words were met with silent nods among the interlocutors. Most of them are just before the age of ninety or have already passed it.
But when they start talking about youth, time suddenly turns back. “During my 90 years, the most new things happened right after the year 2000,” said Pečetova. And they are today a living memory of the time of war, post-war reconstruction, socialism and the country, which meanwhile has long since disappeared from the map.
But memories are not always pleasant. Margareta Gašperšič still vividly remembers the bombing and fleeing the war. But when the conversation turns to the high school years, the faces quickly clear up. “We were one of the best classes because we understood each other,” he proudly remarked Janez Belic. And apparently well enough that they met almost every year after graduation. “Sometimes even twice a year,” he laughs.
“Professor Adlešič, he taught us physics, and after graduation, he told us to remain friends. And we stayed,” he added Primož Aplenc. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of graduation, they even published an anthology and revived memories of professors, adventures and characters, which they can still list almost alphabetically.
Professors, “squirting” and the inn problem
If today’s students complain about the school, former high school students clearly have a much different view. “I have the best memories of high school,” he said almost proudly Peter Lobewho, as he says with a laugh, was a true organizer of the class and, consequently, also popular among the professors. “I was the class teacher’s secretary, I booked trains for May trips and everything.”
The professors were strict, but apparently memorable. “We had good professors,” everyone at the table agreed. They especially remember Professor Ivan Štalac, who taught them mathematics. “He was very strict,” she recalls Elga Rosina Brezar. But almost in the same breath, she adds: “But you learned a lot.” Mrs. Peče even admitted that mathematics barely got her to high school graduation, and then happily added an almost cinematic plot: “After two years of high school graduation, I got a writer who is very famous today through the seventh and eighth grade of high school. I tutored him in all subjects – including mathematics.”
Even today, Peter Lobel enthusiastically remembers Professor Adlešič’s “inn problem”. His memory of the “fat spies law” is even more vivid. “The professor took us to class and asked for greasy paper from the lunch box. Then he illuminated it from two sides until the greasy stain disappeared. We had those! I would go to school again because of Alešič,” Lobel enthusiastically admitted.
Alenka Bajec Velkavrh but also has fond memories of Cirilo Jeglič, who was later the first head of the Arboretum Volčji Potok, otherwise a landscape architect, educator and an important expert in horticulture and park planning. “Because of him, I became a big plant lover myself.”
When it comes to partying, former high school graduates quickly dispel romantic ideas about post-war youth. Was the Šestica inn their regular meeting place? The answer comes almost in unison: “Where! We had no money.”
Alenka Firm added that they had school dances, but did not go to bars. “The sea? Once in four years we went on a final trip. We wanted to go to Dubrovnik, but we stayed at home,” Firmova recalled, and Primož Aplek added that the professors accompanied them to Ribne in Bled. “They had bad experiences with previous generations. Mainly because of alcohol,” he added.
But apparently they lacked nothing. Today, seventy years after graduation, they still sit together, have fun, list their classmates and check who is still available. Thirteen of the former 37 students are still alive today. And with all the stories, laughter and names that still sound familiar, it becomes clear that this generation didn’t just celebrate graduation. She celebrated life.
