3At first glance, the photo looks almost unreal: a young girl with fierce eyes, half-shadowed by the scars that cut across her face like lightning. But the story behind those scars is even more astonishing.
Her name was Albina Mali-Hočevar — and long before she became a symbol of Yugoslav resistance, she was just a 16-year-old Slovenian girl who refused to stay out of the fight.
A Teenager Who Wanted a Rifle, Not Bandages
When World War II exploded across Europe and Nazi Germany invaded Yugoslavia in 1941, Albina didn’t run. She didn’t hide.
Instead, she demanded to join the People’s Liberation Movement of Yugoslavia — one of the most dangerous partisan groups fighting the occupiers.
Her commanders took one look at the teenage girl and decided she was “better suited” to nursing.
Albina’s reaction?
She burst into tears.
Not out of fear — but out of frustration.
She didn’t want to heal fighters.
She wanted to be one.