| Official Name: | Bezuljak |
| Pushpin Map: | Slovenia |
| Pushpin Label Position: | top |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Slovenia |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Slovenia |
| Subdivision Type1: | Traditional region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Inner Carniola |
| Subdivision Type2: | Statistical region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Littoral–Inner Carniola |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Cerknica |
| Area Total Km2: | 8.3 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 82 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Religions |
| Coordinates: | 45.8347°N 14.369°W |
| Elevation M: | 640.7 |
| Footnotes: | [1] |
Bezuljak (in Slovenian pronounced as /bəzuˈljaːk/, German: Wesulak[2]) is a village north of Begunje pri Cerknici in the Municipality of Cerknica in the Inner Carniola region of Slovenia.[3]
Bezuljak was attested in written records as Holaer in 1260, Oleren in 1261, and Holleren in 1321, among other spellings.[4] The name Bezuljak is derived from the Slavic common noun *bъzъ 'elder', thus originally referring to the vegetation. Similar names based on the same root are common in Slovenian ethnic territory (e.g., Basovizza in Italy and Bezgovica) as well as in other Slavic areas (e.g., Bazje in Croatia, Bzová in the Czech Republic, etc.).[5]
Some other suggested explanations of the name are connected with pasturing, Ottoman attacks, or geographical features.[6]
Bezuljak was mentioned as early as the second half of the 13th century as a property of the Carthusian monastery at Bistra. During the Second World War, the Partisans attacked an Italian post in the village on the night of 19 October 1941.[6]
Bezuljak is the site of a mass grave associated with the Second World War. The Matevž Shaft Mass Grave (Slovenian: Grobišče Matevževo brezno) lies northwest of the village, in the Ravnik Valley, in an overgrown area with many sinkholes. It contains the remains of an unknown number of victims at a depth of two meters.[7]
The local church in the settlement is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary and belongs to the Parish of Begunje pri Cerknici.[8]
Notable people that were born or lived in Bezuljak include: