COURAGE

connecting collections

The role of the document was to preserve the memory of all persecuted priests of the Diocese of Ljubljana in the post-war period, both those who were killed and those who were imprisoned. The very fact that it was compiled was a challenge to the authorities. The document was maintained in secrecy and it served as a memorial to the bishop and subsequently to the public about the extent of persecution. Today it is a valuable monument to the circumstances when it was created and to its creator. It is located in the Anton Vovk collection in box 74 and it is freely accessible. 

Recurrent motifs addressed by Roger Loewigs artworks are walls, rivers, fences, broken bridges, injured or dead bodies. These representations draw inspiration from the personal experiences of the Second World War, making a clear statement against any form of violence and repression.

The collection has the largest group of liturgical church lamps in Europe. According to Alina Galvanauskienė, the head of the Museum of the 1863 Rebellion, many visitors are very surprised when they see so many lamps in one room. They show particular features of the collection, and of Fr Stanislovas' attitude towards material things. First of all, these items refer to religion, and collecting them was not included in the Soviet ideological understanding of what the cultural heritage meant. Secondly, the restoration of these lamps was done in a very particular way, without the meticulous and precise renewal of an old product, and not attempting to make something look as it did many years ago. The lamps have been restored by showing each part in a different colour. Thirdly, the main idea in the restoration was the process itself, rather than the restored object (an item). This meant that Fr Stanislovas sought to involve local people, visitors, members of the intelligentsia and craftsmen, in order to bring them together through activity, collecting and restoring things, and forming a community as a result of joint work.