 Novak escaped to Italy where he remained for the remainder of the war.In mid-1944, Colonel (later General) Ivan Prezelj, who had been appointed as Mihailović's delegate in Slovenia after Novak's escape to Italy, briefly re-established several Slovene Chetnik detachments.One of these, operating in Lower Styria and led by Jože Melaher, managed to survive until the end of the war.