Page 128 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 11(2) (2023)

while Pinko Tomažič Primary School often ap-
pears in posts on various Facebook groups about
Koper’s history, for example Koper, kot je bil ne-
koč / Capodistria com’era una volta (Koper as it
used to be). The comments under the posts dis-
play a wide range of different reactions – from
pure nostalgia and a sense of belonging, to igno-
rance about the presence of Italians. The variety
of comments, emotions and attitudes expressed
testify to the extraordinary heritage of these two
schools, while the lack of knowledge about the
history behind the buildings and the institution
128 can again be considered ‘extruded’ history. For 15
years, the site of the Janko Premrl Vojko school
lay empty, awaiting the construction of an un- ti
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 11 (2023), številka 2 / volume 11 (2023), number 2
derground car park and a new public park on top
of it. Since 2022, the existence of the first post-
war school building has been commemorated in
the new ‘Museum Square’ above the car park. ta
Each of the three entrances to the car park has
a large white slab with a short introductory text
and an axonometric projection of the building.
This ‘site of memory’ is presently (autumn 2023)
visible but invisible: the white letters carved into di
the white slab are completely illegible. The mem-
ory of the school and its dissonant heritage sig-
nificance is ‘invisibly commemorated’.
However, in the absence of any interest
from the academic and political spheres in eval-
uating the significance of the post-war schools in
the northern Istrian urban space, a special, co- here
incidental and symbolic moment is taking place
right now (autumn 2023). After 67 years, the
Slovenian and Italian primary schools in Kop-
er have been reunited, albeit temporarily, in the
Figure 9: The ‘invisibly commemorated’ history of the
post-war primary school on white slabs with white letters same building – the new building of the Kop-
at the northern entrance to the new underground car er Primary School, while the old building of the
park on the site of the old school Italian school is undergoing renovation.
(photo: Neža Čebron Lipovec, 2023)
Archival Sources
cal population is also evidenced by the exist- AS: Arhiv Republike Slovenije.
ence of the social media Facebook groups and SABAP FGV: Soprintendenza Archeologia,
their exceptional activity. The Janko Premrl Vo- belle arti e paesaggio del Friuli Venezia studiauniversitatis
jko Primary School has almost 2,000 follow- Giulia
ers and was founded only a few months after PAK: Pokrajinski arhiv Koper / Archivio
the building was demolished (November 2008), Regionale di Capodistria.