Page 101 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 11(2) (2023)

partisans migrated to Trieste daily for work and ly started introducing special cross-border agree-
members of the communist party were involved ments (Verginella 2021).
in retail trade. The new socialist political lead- If we reconsider Sendhardt’s statements, we
ers found this outrageous. However, any imped- can agree that ‘the traditional view of borders as
iment to transit fomented hostility so the com- static structures made room for a new theoreti-
munists were forced to adopt forms of indirect cal understanding of borders as ‘historically con-
pressure, such as engaging mostly younger men tingent’ processes (Newman and Paasi 1998), an
in youth work actions or confiscating transit per- understanding that includes in the definition of
mits to zone A (Verginella 2021). borders their ready potential to change’ (Sen-
My interlocutors also explained that zone dhardt 2013).
B was mainly a rural area without industry and Ties With Family and Friends
was seriously affected by the interrupted connec-
tion with Trieste: ‘We received some help, there Immediately after the war, a lot of people 101
ti we lost our connection with Trieste… and cross- and it was pretty empty [the village by the
was no industry, only agriculture…in that period
moved out, somewhere around 1947 or 1948,
ing to zone A was not allowed… so people smug-
border where the interlocutor is from, note
gled’ (Interlocutor 2) or: ‘It was not allowed to PK]. Problems are problems, we didn’t have
ta cross the zone, only those with permits’ (Inter- used to go, sometimes it was 4 times a year, 4
a problem because we had these passes. We
locutor 15). Another added:
times a month. [Interlocutor 6]
People were inventive here; they went to
Crossing the border was important for eco-
di Trieste to sell things, one to smuggle, to nomic survival, but also to keep in touch with
get along, because it was Istria. I won’t say
relatives, friends and/or clients on the other side
fifty percent of the population lived off, I
(Kralj and Rener 2019). A state border suddenly
won’t say ‘šverc’ [smuggling, note PK], and
they carried butter, meat, drinks, wine, and divided members of the same family. In line with
here ly stop this trade, they did not take serious re- one zone to the other, or to the other country. everyday life in the borderland area between yugoslavia and italy after wwii ...
the international treaties, people in the former
schnapps. Because that wasn’t allowed. It
military zones could also decide to move from
was at the borders, I don’t know, a kilo of
meat, everybody had their own way. [Inter-
The inhabitants of both states tried to keep in
locutor 6]
touch with those on the other side and to help
As the Yugoslav authorities could not real-
each other. There were families who did not see
each other for long periods of time: ‘When we
strictive actions against it. It was considered an
studiauniversitatis
note P.K.], I saw my mum’s sister for the first
embarrassment, but the authorities were aware
time… my mum had not seen her for a long time
that any strict restrictions would cause discon- first went to Trieste with the prepustnica [pass,
tent especially among the poorest population in either’ (Interlocutor 16).
zone B, and could cause a political fracture in the People moved for different reasons, such as
zone they wanted to annex to Yugoslavia. The political disagreement with the new regime, eco-
local population was also very disturbed by the nomic motives, fear, propaganda and family:
fact that local communist party secretaries were We were terribly sorry when they left [neigh-
the ones who approved the permits for travel to bours in Koper, note PK] because they were
zone A. Nontheless, the relations that were dis- really nice people. Their relatives, some of
rupted by the reality of the new border could not them still live here and they were, they had
be stopped and after the final border resolution a farm here on the old Šmarska road [near
in 1954 (or 1975), the states of Yugoslavia and Ita- Koper, note PK] and it’s a pity they left be-