Every year, the Uprising Day of the villages of Vrebac, Zavodje and Pavlovac is traditionally commemorated at the memorial monument on Gradina, on St. Elijah’s Day (Ilindan), 2 August.
On this occasion, we remember the events of 1941 that led to the popular uprising. Through this commemoration, we also honour the memory of the 279 fighters and civilians from Vrebac, Zavodje and Pavlovac who lost their lives during the Second World War.
The account that follows is based on the recorded testimonies of Jovan Njegomir (Joca), Vladimir Mandarić, Dane Popović (Danica), Nikola Njegomir (Nina) and Sava Todorić (Savica), published in the monograph The Roots of Centuries of Continuity (pp. 172–201). For the purposes of this article, their testimonies have been reproduced either in their original form or with minor editorial adaptations.
The Attack on Yugoslavia
Without a formal declaration of war, on 6 April 1941 the Axis powers launched their invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by bombing Belgrade and several other Yugoslav cities.
General mobilization took place under extremely difficult wartime conditions. Nevertheless, the mobilization of the Royal Yugoslav Army exceeded expectations. Every military reservist from Vrebac, Zavodje and Pavlovac responded to the call and reported to his assigned military unit.
During the brief April War, 74 soldiers and non-commissioned officers from these three villages served in the Royal Yugoslav Army. After the collapse of the Yugoslav defence, most returned home, bringing with them the weapons and military equipment issued to them, including rifles, pistols, hand grenades, ammunition and other supplies.
A total of 53 servicemen returned home:
- Vrebac: 17 soldiers and 10 non-commissioned officers;
- Zavodje: 11 soldiers and 4 non-commissioned officers;
- Pavlovac: 8 soldiers and 3 non-commissioned officers.
Within less than two weeks of fighting, German and Italian forces captured more than 6,000 officers and nearly 400,000 soldiers and non-commissioned officers of the Royal Yugoslav Army.
From these three villages alone, 37 servicemen spent the period from April 1941 until May 1945 in prisoner-of-war camps. Of these, 19 were from Vrebac, while 18 came from Zavodje and Pavlovac. The majority were farmers (29), followed by industrial workers (2), merchants (2), military clerks (1), non-commissioned officers (3) and one police officer.
Even while the conquest of Yugoslavia was still under way, several hundred members of the Ustaša movement, who had spent years in exile receiving fascist and Nazi ideological training, entered the country alongside the German and Italian occupation forces.
The Proclamation of the Indenpendent State of Croatia (NDH)
The Independent State of Croatia (NDH) was proclaimed on 10 April 1941. Although the regime did not officially describe itself as either fascist or Nazi, it fully embraced the new European order promoted by the Axis powers. Its ideology was fundamentally based on racial discrimination and antisemitism. It rejected the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, advocated separatism, and displayed extreme hostility and intolerance towards the Serbian population.
The establishment of the Independent State of Croatia caused deep anxiety and fear among the Serbian population concerning their future.
These fears were rooted in memories of the First World War, when many Serbs living in Croatia had been subjected to persecution, harassment and imprisonment by the Austro-Hungarian authorities and Croatian nationalist groups.
Once the new administrative system had been established, the Ustaša authorities began preparing concrete measures directed against the Serbian population.
By order of the Grand Prefect (Veliki Župan) of Lika and Gacka, an Ustaša garrison of approximately 30 men, commanded by Zvonko Pezelj, was stationed in Vrebac.
The Ustaše arrived in the village on 6 May 1941 and remained there until 31 July 1941.
They established their headquarters in the Cultural and Educational Centre, the largest and most suitable building in the village. There they were accommodated, took their meals, interrogated prisoners, tortured civilians and carried out executions.
A sign reading “USTAŠA GARRISON – VREBAC” was placed on the building.
Besides controlling Vrebac, Zavodje and Pavlovac, the garrison also exercised authority over approximately half of the neighbouring village of Mogorić.
Ustaša Repression
The first measure introduced by the Ustaša authorities, with the assistance of village officials, was a complete census of the population in each village. This was followed by an order requiring all inhabitants to surrender every type of firearm and weapon in their possession.
The next step was the establishment of a local prison in Vrebac. In order to keep as many villagers as possible under constant supervision, the Ustaša headquarters issued an order requiring all able-bodied men to report regularly for compulsory road maintenance work.
By order of the Grand Prefect of Lika and Gacka, during the first half of May 1941 all young men between the ages of fifteen and twenty were summoned for military registration. Failure to report carried the threat of the death penalty.
On the appointed day, a large number of young men gathered in front of the school in Vrebac. The registration itself was conducted in the courtyard of the King Peter Cultural Centre and cinema in Gospić. Upon completion of the registration they were informed that they could return home, but that they were required to report immediately to the competent military authorities should they later receive a call-up notice.
Only after returning to their villages did these young men realize how great the danger to their lives had actually been.
Another important instrument of intimidation consisted of constant Ustaša patrols and ambushes. Before leaving headquarters, patrol commanders received detailed instructions from Zvonko Pezelj and Jurak specifying which individuals were to be arrested and which homes were to be searched.
Immediately after the NDH authorities enacted legislation permitting the forced conversion of Serbs to Roman Catholicism, a campaign to implement these measures began throughout the Gospić district.
The overwhelming majority of local inhabitants refused even to consider religious conversion. Nevertheless, fearing for their lives, several families from Vrebac, Zavodje and Pavlovac expressed their willingness to convert.
Another form of persecution involved harassment while people were carrying out agricultural work. Ustaša patrols frequently entered the fields in search of villagers to arrest.
The region’s cultural and historical heritage also became a target.
Soon after arriving in Vrebac, the Ustaše desecrated the village’s Serbian Orthodox church. They demolished the iconostasis, destroyed frescoes, processional banners, church books, candlesticks and virtually the entire church inventory.
They also removed and destroyed the marble commemorative plaque from the Cultural Centre, which had been dedicated to Isa Bogdanović in recognition of his contribution to the construction of the building.
The cooperative store and reading room housed in the Cultural and Educational Centre were looted.
All musical instruments belonging to the village tamburitza orchestra were confiscated and taken away.
Books printed in the Cyrillic script were destroyed, as were all Cyrillic inscriptions on the school, village shops and even cemetery monuments.
The first Victims
At the end of May 1941, three prominent residents of Vrebac were arrested:
- Vlado Narančić, a merchant;
- Jovo Sunajko, former head of the Medak municipality;
- Rade Narančić, a retired schoolteacher.
After being brutally tortured in the Gospić prison, all three men were taken away and thrown into one of the many karst pits on Mount Velebit.
They became the first victims of Ustaša terror from the three villages.
In an attempt to escape persecution, Miloš (“Mišo” Jankov) Dragosavac and Luka Miščević boarded a train bound for Belgrade.
However, in Nova Gradiška they were recognised by a railway employee from Gospić and sent back under escort to Gospić, where they were initially released.
Their freedom was short-lived.
Soon afterwards they encountered an Ustaša patrol, were arrested again in the street and disappeared.
The exact place where they were murdered remains unknown.
It is believed that they most likely perished in the notorious Jadovno concentration camp, one of the first extermination camps established by the Ustaša regime in 1941.
The Medak Plantation Massacre
During the first half of June 1941, the Ustaša authorities intensified their campaign of mass arrests. Within only a few days, twenty-one residents of Vrebac, Zavodje and Pavlovac were taken into custody.
All of those arrested were imprisoned in the cellar of Sava Dragosavac’s house. The room was far too small to accommodate so many prisoners, but the Ustaše paid no attention to their conditions. Those arrested had, in effect, already been sentenced to death.
On the evening of 17 June 1941, the prisoners were taken from Vrebac and transported to Medak Plantation, where they were executed.
At approximately 10:00 p.m., a truck carrying a group of Ustaša guards arrived from Gospić and stopped in front of Sava Dragosavac’s house. Working silently and without attracting attention, the guards tied the prisoners together in pairs with wire before loading them onto the truck.
Around 11:00 p.m., escorted by their executioners, these unfortunate men from Vrebac, Zavodje and Pavlovac began what would become their final journey.
To conceal their destination, the truck travelled via Barlete – Bilaj – Ribnik – Medak – Medak Plantation.
When it reached a previously prepared pit, the vehicle came to a halt.
Even during the journey, the prisoners—bound and completely defenceless—were subjected to brutal beatings. The convoy stopped in Bilaj and Ribnik, where local Ustaša members also took part in the abuse.
At the edge of the pit, the killings continued with extreme brutality. The victims were murdered using knives, rifle butts, chains, wooden clubs and other blunt weapons before being thrown into the mass grave.
Victrims Killed at Medak Plantation on 17 June 1941:
Vrebac
- Božo Bogdanović, son of Bogdan (born 1904), labourer
- Božo Bogdanović, son of Dane (born 1906), labourer
- Mile Dragosavac, son of Ilija (born 1903), labourer
- Jovo Grubić, son of Petar (born 1912), labourer
- Marko Grubić, son of Petar (born 1910), labourer
- Joja Milekić, son of Ise (born 1908), farmer
- Janko Mandarić, son of Rade (born 1905), labourer
- Stevan Mandarić, son of Rade (born 1899), farmer
- Marko Mandić, son of Petar (born 1905), farmer
- Đuro (“Đukica”) Narančić, son of Gene (born 1892), farmer
- Stevo Narančić, son of Gene (born 1912), farmer
- Petar (“Pekan”) Popović, son of Jove (born 1890), farmer
- Nikola (“Nina”) Uzelac, son of Nikole (born 1908), farmer
- Dmitar (“Dmico”) Rajšić, from Donji Barleti
Zavodje
- Nikola (“Nino”) Ćurčić, son of Đure (born 1908), farmer
- Nikola (“Liker”) Graovac, son of Nikole (born 1901), farmer
Pavlovac
- Glišo Novaković, son of Đukan (born 1901), labourer
- Jovo Novković, son of Marko (born 1913), labourer
- Mane Novković, son of Joce (born 1920), farmer
- Milan Novković, son of Đure (born 1913), farmer
- Dušan Tomaš, son of Mile (born 1909), farmer
Jadovno
At the end of June 1941, among those arrested were Branko Cetina from Vrebac and Sava Zoroja from Pavlovac. Both men succeeded in escaping from the Jadovno concentration camp, thereby avoiding certain death.
As two of the very few prisoners who managed to escape from the hands of the Ustaša executioners, they returned to their villages and described to the local population the horrific conditions in the camp and the methods by which prisoners were systematically murdered in what became one of the deadliest extermination camps established by the Ustaša regime in the Independent State of Croatia.
The Uprising
During July 1941, Ustaša terror intensified dramatically.
At that time, the forested area known as Vrebačka Staza contained numerous shepherds’ huts and woodland shelters. These provided relatively safe places where villagers could hide and hold secret meetings. Some groups organized guards to warn of any possible approach by Ustaša patrols, although the Ustaše themselves rarely ventured into the mountains in search of fugitives.
Faced with growing persecution and lacking any formal organization, the villagers began independently forming small groups to discuss how they might defend themselves against the increasingly violent attacks directed at the Serbian population of Vrebac, Zavodje and Pavlovac.
One of the most active groups met regularly in the forest above Zavodje. It consisted of men from all three villages who believed that the entire population should be informed about the deteriorating situation and the possibility of organized armed resistance.
To that end, a meeting was convened on 17 July 1941. It was organized by Joca Njegomir, Milorad Miščević, Milan Njegomir, Luka Miščević and Luka Njegomir.
A large number of villagers from Vrebac, Zavodje and Pavlovac attended. During the meeting they were informed of the proposal to organize an armed uprising against the Ustaša authorities.
The organizing group was subsequently transformed into the Committee for the Preparation of the Uprising.
At one of the Committee’s subsequent meetings, it was decided that the uprising should begin on 28 July 1941 with an attack on the Ustaša headquarters in Vrebac.
While these preparations were under way, sometime between 20 and 25 July, Mile Počuča, a member of the District Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia (KPH) for Lika, arrived at the meeting place in the forest above Zavodje.
He brought the Proclamation of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) calling for a nationwide armed uprising against the Axis occupation and advised those present not to begin the uprising on 28 July as originally planned. Instead, he recommended waiting until the District Committee issued instructions for a coordinated uprising throughout the Serbian villages of Lika.
As a result, the original plan to launch the uprising independently in Vrebac, Zavodje and Pavlovac was abandoned.
During the night of 31 July–1 August 1941, however, the Ustaša garrison unexpectedly abandoned Vrebac and withdrew to the neighbouring villages of Barlete and Bilaj.
As soon as news of their departure spread, orders were issued for the assembled armed groups to enter Vrebac.
In the early hours of 1 August 1941, after leaving Vrebac, Ustaša forces began a large-scale massacre of the Serbian population in Barlete and Ostrvica.
Thanks to the vigilance of the local inhabitants, together with the confusion and poor coordination among the attacking forces, the assault did not achieve its intended objective.
Although a number of elderly people, women and children were killed, many others escaped into the surrounding forests or found refuge with relatives and friends in Zavodje, Pavlovac and Mogorić.
While the local leadership discussed the rapidly changing situation and considered how best to organize the defence of the villages, the remaining insurgents assembled on Gradina Hill and around the Cultural Centre in Vrebac, awaiting further orders.
The First Victory
At approximately 9:00 a.m. on 1 August 1941, two Ustaša men arrived in Vrebac from Medak. One of them was Zvonko Pezelj, commander of the Ustaša garrison stationed in the village.
Realizing that something unusual was taking place in Vrebac, they abandoned their horse-drawn cart and attempted to escape toward the school and the Popović Bridge.
When Milan Kokot noticed the fleeing Ustaše approaching the school, he fired two shots at them. Although neither shot struck its target, these were the first shots fired against the Ustaše in the Gospić District.
Later that afternoon, the insurgents observed a column of armed men, approximately company strength, advancing from Ribnik toward Sunajko’s Grove, along the route leading to Vlaško Hill, where the left flank of the insurgent defensive line had been established.
When the attacking force came within less than two hundred metres of their positions, the insurgents on Vlaško Hill opened fire.
At the same time, the right flank, positioned along the road from Barlete, was prepared for the expected attack.
The insurgents noticed that the Ustaše advancing from this direction appeared to expect little or no resistance. This was evident from the relaxed manner in which a three-man patrol moved ahead of the main force.
According to the previously agreed plan, the insurgents allowed the enemy to approach as closely as possible before opening fire.
The first to fire was Mile Mandarić, known by the nickname Pekar, using a rifle that had been seized from the Ustaše only a few hours earlier.
His first shot struck and killed one of the armed Ustaša militiamen. His second shot brought down the remaining two members of the patrol.
The exchange of fire quickly forced the attacking force to retreat.
As the first day of August drew to a close, the insurgents of Vrebac, Zavodje and Pavlovac had won their first military victory over the Ustaša forces.
This success significantly strengthened the morale of the local population and marked the beginning of organized armed resistance in this part of the Gospić District.
Prepared and adapted by Željko Narančić.