COURAGE

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The Anonymous Mountaineer collection illustrates how a passion for the mountains and for climbing could become a passion for freedom. More precisely, the collection reflects a distinctive type of cultural opposition, practised by those with a passion for the mountains and for climbing. This sport permitted a temporary escape from the routine of life under communism into places where the communist regime effectively ceased to exist. At the same time, in the case of communist Romania there was also a second dimension of opposition, because climbing involved a connection with the parallel economy in order to procure the necessary technical equipment, which was not to be found in shops. The Anonymous Mountaineer collection preserves a great variety of climbing equipment that was either improvised by the owner of the collection or obtained on the black market, where such items were commercialised.

The Ante Ciliga Collection is deposited at the Collection of the Old Books and Manuscripts at the National and University Library in Zagreb. It testifies to cultural opposition activities of the Croatian political émigré Ante Ciliga, who made the transition from high-ranking member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia to an anticommunist and critic of the one party system and the totalitarian form of socialism.

The collection illustrates Alojzij Šuštar's theological and pastoral work as a priest and archbishop who led the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Ljubljana despite the restrictions on freedom imposed by institutions under the communist government’s control. The Collection includes books, original manuscripts, Šuštar’s published articles and his correspondence and polemics, which demonstrate his critical stance toward Slovenia’s communist regime in the late years of the regime and in the period of transition to democracy.