during world war ii, javoršek joined the partisan resistance, where he fought alongside the later philosopher and literary critic dušan pirjevec and the writer vitomil zupan. it was during his underground activity in the italian-ruled province of ljubljana that he adopted the pseudonym jože javoršek. after the end of the war in 1945, he worked as the personal secretary of edvard kocbek, who was appointed minister for slovenia in the yugoslav government. he continued his studies at the french sorbonne and shortly worked as assistant at the yugoslav embassy in paris. in the french capital, he frequented the circles of french left-wing intellectuals; among others, he became acquainted with albert camus, and established a close friendship with louis guilloux, gérard philipe, and marcel schneider.