Ivanka Škrabec Novak

Ivanka Škrabec Novak
Born
Ivanka Škrabec

(1915-03-17)17 March 1915
Hrovača, Austria-Hungary
Died4 June 1942(1942-06-04) (aged 27)
Zamostec, Axis-occupied Yugoslavia
OccupationTeacher
Notable workThe Letter to Unborn Child
TitleServant of God

Ivanka Škrabec Novak (17 March 1915, Hrovača – 4 June 1942, Zamostec) was a Slovenian teacher, martyr and Servant of God.

Early life

Ivanka was born in 1915 in Hrovača, Slovenia in a devout Catholic family. Her parents were farmer Janez Škrabec, nephew of Stanislav Škrabec, and farmer Angela Arko.[1]

After completing her studies at the Ursuline teacher training college in Ljubljana in 1936, she started working as a teacher. In 1939 she started working in the village named Sodražica. She was known for helping poor students and was active in her parish.[2][1][3]

Marriage and Martyrdom

In 1941, amidst the turmoil of the Italian and German occupation of Slovenia, Ivanka married France Novak, a Catholic intellectual and chemistry professor who had fled Nazi-occupied Upper Carniola. The couple settled in Sodražica, where Ivanka continued her dedicated work as a teacher and was actively involved in her parish and in youth religious organizations.[2][1][3]

The couple's outspoken Catholic beliefs and criticism of the Communist-led Liberation Front (OF) made them targets. On 28 May 1942, following the withdrawal of Italian forces, Comunist Partisans entered Sodražica. Ivanka's husband managed to escape, but Ivanka, six months pregnant, was arrested. She endured public interrogation and humiliation and was subsequently placed under house arrest. On 3 June 1942, Partisans forcibly took Ivanka from her home, subjected her to severe beatings, and led her to a forest nearby. There, she was compelled to dig her own grave. Despite her pleas to spare her unborn child, she was killed and buried in the shallow grave.[2][1][3][4]

A letter Ivanka had written to her unborn child a few hours before she was dragged away by Partisans was discovered with her body two months later.[2][1]The contents of the letter were first published in November 1993 by the magazine Duhovno življenje , and later reprinted by Ameriška domovina . It was also printed in Jože Dežman's book Moč preživetja (The Strenght of Survival)[5]  and Milan Muhič's book Zamolčane žrtve 2. svetne vojne 1941–1945 v paršuje Krka, Šmihel in Zagradec (The Silenced Victims of WWII 1941–1945 in Parishes Krka, Šmihel and Zagradec).[6]

Servant of God

Ivanka is currently undergoing a process for recognition of martyrdom and sainthood within the framework of the joint process of Slovenian Martyrs of the 20th century, which was officially opened by the Episcopal Conference of Slovenia on 28 October 2002. Her current title is Servant of God.[7][8]

The Letter to Unborn Child by Ivanka Škrabec Novak

Just a few more hours and my life will be over. Oh God, oh sorrowful Mother, my Mother, You know that I die innocent, just as Your Son died innocent...

Oh my child, my gentle angel, how I long to see the features of your face, the tiny pearls of your gaze. I will never see your blooming smile, the one that would have brought me joy – oh, my child – my tender flower!

I will never see your little white hands, never will you reach out to return my sweet embrace. I will never be able to press you to my heart, though you are so close to it – never, my child! Somewhere there, in the embrace of the forest, will be our home, adorned with spring flowers.

My lips will never be able to sing lullabies to you by the cradle – and I myself will be your cradle, though so cold and lifeless – the branches above us will sing and rustle a loving lullaby. Oh, just sleep peacefully, my child, for you are so close to my heart, which loves you so dearly – but though it loves you, it cannot save you from the embrace of death, which awaits you too. Just sleep peacefully, for you do not sense what is approaching. You will die with me – I, in thought, with you. And then, when the struggle and suffering are over, we shall come together before God...

When I first sensed you... sensed your restlessness beneath my heart, I was already dreaming of the day I would carry you for the first time into God's presence, for the waters of baptism to flow over you – now, it will soon be my own blood that will cover you – with your mother's loving blood, you will be baptized...

I pictured Christ, under the form of bread, bending down to you for the first time... In vain! And yet: my body will soon be a sacrificial ciborium... And you, my child, will be the host within it... The Creator Himself will take the host of your being into His loving hands and place it in His divine Heart... There, my child, I will see you for the first time, oh my gentle angel; there, I will see your face; there, you will see your mother, and for the first time you will cry out to me: “Oh, Mama!”

Look, my child, morning is already near. The first dawn behind the mountains announces it... our final morning of suffering. Morning will rise again – but without suffering and tears... it will rise before God... Just sleep peacefully, for your mother watches over you... Look, the red dawn already heralds the waking day... and the last stars fade into it... The clock in the tower already tolls the morning... which will take us on our final journey... But I will not go alone... you will be with me, my child... and Mary – just as she went with her Son to Calvary, she will go with us... In our final, last breaths, she will stand by us... and she will carry us to our eternally joyful home. No one will disturb our happiness again... for we shall be immersed in the eternal God... in the eternal peace of God...

My child, just sleep... Mary is with us... Look... they are coming... they are coming...[2][9][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Umor dveh dolenjskih učiteljic | Nova Slovenska zaveza" (in Slovenian). 1996-09-29. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  2. ^ a b c d e postaja, Spletna. "Kaj je visoko noseča mučenka Ivanka Škrabec Novak napisala nerojenemu otroku? | Družina – vsak dan s teboj". Kaj je visoko noseča mučenka Ivanka Škrabec Novak napisala nerojenemu otroku? | Družina – vsak dan s teboj (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  3. ^ a b c Ognjišče, Radio. "Ivanka Novak Škrabec (1915 - 1942)". Avdio arhiv Radia Ognjišče (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2025-06-25.
  4. ^ Slovenski dom, 29. avgust 1942.
  5. ^ Dežman, Jože (2004). Moč preživetja [The Strenght of Survival]. Klagenfurt: Mohorjeva družba, Celovec. ISBN 978-3-7086-0082-6.
  6. ^ Muhič, Milan (1999). Zamolčane žrtve druge svetovne vojne 1941-1945 v župnijah Krka, Šmihel in Zagradec [The Silenced Victims of WWII 1941-1945 in Parishes Krka, Šmihel and Zagradec]. samozaložba.
  7. ^ "Postulatura". kvaternik.over.net (in Slovenian). Archived from the original on 2018-01-24. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
  8. ^ "Communist Europe (6)". newsaints.faithweb.com. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
  9. ^ http://www.kurescek.org/jdownloads/Glasnik%20Kraljice%20miru/glasnik_2015_2i.pdf
  10. ^ Novak, Ivanka (1942). Pismo nerojenemu otroku  (in Slovenian) – via Wikisource.
Slovenian Wikisource has a copy in Slovenian of Ivanka Škrabec Novak's letter to her unborn child at:
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