Servant of God Jože Šerjak

Jože Šerjak (June 8, 1918 – 1945) was a Slovene writer and poet and a member of the Salesian order. Šerjak was born as the last of four children into a family of the farmer Janez Šerjak and farmer Katarina (née Maček) in Trata pri Velesovem. Three weeks before his birth, his father died suddenly and unexpectedly. Thus, his mother had a great influence on his upbringing and life direction. He attended elementary school (1925–1929) in Velesovo. At the initiative of his local pastor, Father Bešar, he then enrolled in the classical eight-year secondary school in Ljubljana, during which time he lived in Our Lady's Student Dormitory (Slovene: Marijanišče). After two years (1929–1931) he was no longer able to pay the monthly tuition at the institution, and so he had to return home and work on family farm. Because he wanted to be able to continue his education, he sought other opportunities to do so. With the help of his sister, who had joined the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, he learned about the Salesians and the possibility of older students attending their secondary school. In the fall of 1933, Šerjak resumed his education with the Salesians in Veržej. At the same time, he took exams at the eight-year secondary school in Maribor. Although he was already older, he joined the group and performed in the institute's orchestra, where he played the violin and prepared talks for various ceremonies. After finishing the fifth year of the program, he entered his novitiate at Radna near Sevnica in August 1937 and became a member of the Salesian order the following year. He attended the upper years of secondary school in Radna. After moved to the Salesians' facility in Ljubljana's Rakovnik neighborhood in 1940, he completed the eighth year of secondary school in Ljubljana. After high school, he first pursued Slavic studies at the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Arts, but in 1943 he transferred to the Faculty of Theology. He was mobilized in 1944.