Ilok, air photo
Ilok
Ilok was the center of this part of Srijem in different historical periods: in the 18th century it was the seat of the deputy county head of Srijem County. It was a district town with administrative authorities and a district court. In the lively political party arena, the Croatian ideas prevailed and spread from Ilok all over Srijem.
Ilok became a fair and trade center thanks to local Jews and Germans, who were skillful traders and maintained representations of well-known Austrian and Hungarian companies and engaged in buying and selling agricultural products. In Communist Yugoslavia, Ilok lost its natural eastern and southern hinterland due to the border shift and became a small municipality with only a few villages. In 1962 Ilok was not even the center of the municipality anymore, but the population of the surrounding villages still came to the market, to the stores, many were coming to work in Ilok enterprises, and the students were coming to high schools. The health facilities in Ilok served all the inhabitants of the eastern part of the former municipality of Vukovar. Thus, even after the loss of a significant administrative status, Ilok remained the center of the region.
Throughout the post-World War II period there were efforts to impose a guilt complex on Ilok for allegedly being an Ustasha place. We have already mentioned that Croatian political parties from Ilok spread their ideas throughout Srijem. That is why the Serbs of the Srijem towns, which at that time belonged to the Ilok district, tried to take revenge after the so-called “liberations.” On the night of December 8, 1944, 42 prominent Croats from Ilok were arrested and executed.
Ilok was called an “Ustasha place,” although no one was convicted of a war crime. In order to reduce the number of Ilok Croats as much as possible, the authorities settled about 45 Greek Catholic families from Žumberak in the homes of displaced Germans and killed and displaced Jews, assuming that the Greek Catholics, whose church rite resembles that of the Orthodox, would eventually become Serbs. This indeed happened with some individuals: There were cases where one brother declared himself a Croat and the other a Serb, because it was more useful for him.
After the 1950s, a new poor Croatian population migrated of its own accord from Herzegovina and Bosnia, which event in turn was seen as the arrival of the Ustasha. The older Croats largely withdrew from public and political life, and the middle generation was swept away by the war. The younger ones went to study, and many did not return because it is difficult to find work. Serbs occupied more and more important functions and jobs. A large number of Serbs from neighboring Vojvodina moved to Ilok or simply found work there. Everything Croatian was degraded and suppressed, so Croats felt constricted and lived in constant fear of being guilty of something. This is the reason why many Croats have migrated from Ilok to other regions, especially in 1971, and many went abroad to find work. With the money they earned, they were building houses in Ilok, buying land and increasing their property, always with the desire to return.
The exact number of killed Croats from Ilok is not yet known, we present here only a part of the so far known victims of Communism from Ilok and its surroundings.
Croats who suffered and were executed in Ilok
Testimonies about the missing, dead and murdered:
1. ABEL, Josip, 1896, Radićeva St. 13, merchant. Civilian. Shot on December 8, 1944 at Šinteraj – Mrcinište in Ilok.
2. AĐIĆ, Luka
3. AĐIĆ, Ivan – Šepak. 1920, Starčevićeva Čolića kraj – M. Gupca, official, murdered.
4. ALASOVIĆ, Đuro. Glavna St., barber. Shot at Šinteraj on December 8, 1944
5. ALASOVIĆ, Ivica. 1915. Starčevićeva St. 1, district clerk. Killed as a soldier in 1943 in Čaglin.
6. ALEKSIĆ, Viktorija. Shot at Šinteraj on December 8, 1944
7. ANĐELIĆ, Ivan, 1919, Starčevićeva St. 54, farmer. Murdered in Ilok in 1944
8. BABIĆ, Živko, 1922, Opaliti kraj, merchant. Murdered in 1943 or 1944
9. BAČKO, 1910?, Starčevićeva St., farmer. Disappeared on the Way of the Cross in 1945
10. BAROŠEVIĆ, Andrija, 1908?, Starčevićeva St., farmer. Way of the Cross in 1945
11. BEDIĆ, Ivica, 1912, Meštrovićeva St. 2, municipal notary. Murdered in 1944
12. BENEŠIĆ, Mira. 1909, Čaršija, professor and pharmacist. She was murdered following the Military Court decision in Zagreb in 1944
13. BENJA, 1910, Starčevićeva St., carpenter. Attack on Ilok, 29 September 1944, at the Agricultural School. Burned out at school.
14. BLAŽEK, Ivan, 1905. Ćolićeva St., professor. Sentenced to death in 1948 as a Crusader. Died beaten in prison.
15. BLAŽEK, Josip, 1918, student of philosophy. Murdered in Bosanski Novi in 1943. Buried in Ilok.
16. BRANDAJZ, Branko, (husband of Ladislava Momirović). Ađanski kraj. Way of the Cross in 1945
17. BUBALO, Ivan. 1908, Starčevićeva St. 33, merchant. Way of the Cross in 1945
18. BUHBINDER, Josip, 1916, Radićeva St., farmer. Murdered at Šinteraj on December 8, 1944
19. CARIN, Stanko, 1900, Šenoina St., superintending roadman. Civilian. Murdered by verdict of the military court in Šid in 1944
20. CIMBAL, 1918, Starčevićeva St. 52. Hungarian. Way of the Cross in 1945
21. CINKOVSKI, Mato, 1924, Starčevićeva St. 42, blacksmith. Way of the Cross in 1945
22. CRVENKOVIĆ, Drago, 1925, Radićeva St., barber. Way of the Cross in 1945
23. CRVENKOVIĆ, Josip, 1900?, Radićeva St., barber. Civilian. Shot at Šinteraj on December 8, 1944
24. CVIJANOVIĆ, Ivica (Brata), 1922, Starčevićeva St. 36, blacksmith. Injured in the battle in 1945 between Opatovac and Sotin. Died of wounds in Vinkovci.
25. ČAPIĆ, Jozo, 1900?, Starčevićeva St. 46, miller. Way of the Cross in 1945
26. CASTVAN, Emil. 1919, Opaliti kraj (V. Nazora), Slovak, merchant. Way of the Cross in 1945
27. ČOBANKOVIĆ, Katica. Civilian. Killed during the attack on Ilok on December 4, 1944
28. ČOBANKOVIĆ, Marinko. A soldier. He was returning home on leave. Died by accident in Bapska in 1944
29. ČUPIĆ, Đuro, 1900?, Radićeva St., tailor, Way of the Cross 1945
30. DRAGANIĆ, Đuro.
31. DROBNEK, Mijo, 1916, Starčevićeva St., tailor. Way of the Cross in 1945
32. ĐORĐEVIĆ, Zdravko (Lorka), 1915?, Čaršija, student. He switched from the Home Guard to the Partisans. He was murdered by Partisans in Srijem.
33. ERBER, Gustav Jr., 1912, Radićeva St. 23?, lawyer and judge. Murdered in 1943 in Čaglin.
34. FERENČEVIĆ, Eugen (Jokač), 1926, Radićeva St., farmer. Way of the Cross in 1945
35. FERENČEVIĆ, Ivan (Jokač), 1900?, Radićeva St., farmer. Civilian. Shot on December 8, 1944 on Šinteraj.
36. FERENČEVIĆ, Mijo, 1895?, Čaršija, tinsmith. Civilian. Shot at Šinteraj on December 8, 1944
37. FERENČEVIĆ, Nikica. 1912, Ađanski kraj (Ivan. Goran Kovačić), miller. Way of the Cross in 1945
38. FILIPOVIĆ, Vlatko, Glavna St. (Marshall Tito), lawyer. Way of the Cross in 1945
39. FISCHER (Irma’s father)
40. GALETIĆ, Ivica
41. GERNAJ, Stjepan, 1892, Kumičićeva St. 23, farmer. Shot in Šid on December 13, 1944
42. GESSERT, Johann. Died in the attack on Ilok on September 29 and 30, 1944
43. GOVORKOVIĆ, Pero. Ađanski kraj, farmer. Civilian. Stumbled upon a mine. Buried in Ilok.
44. GRGUREVIĆ, Zoran
45. GULKA, Đuro
46. GULKA, Iva
47. GULKA, Ivan
48. GULKA, Martin
49. GULKA, Stipo
50. GULKA, Šimun?
51. HABENŠUS, father
52. HABENŠUS, son
53. HADRAVA, Đuro
54. HAKALA, Franjo, 1921, Kumičićeva St., typographer.
55. HORNJAK, Stipo
56. HORNJAK, Tunja
57. IGERČIĆ, Mijo. Shot at Šinteraj on December 8, 1944
58. JARABEK, Josip, 1898, Kumičićeva St. Civilian. Killed in the field at the end of September 1944
59. JARABEK, Katica, 1900?, Kumičićeva St., dressmaker. Civilian. Shot at Šinteraj on December 8, 1944
60. JELČIĆ, Stjepan, 1914?, Ađanski kraj, teacher. Way of the Cross in 1945
61. KALEA, Josip
62. KARLOVIĆ, Marijan, 1898, Meštrovićeva St.1, army sub lieutenant. Way of the Cross in 1945
63. KASAL, Mirko, 1923, Starčevićeva St. 26, dentist. Way of the Cross in 1945
64. KAŠIĆ, Mijo, 1918, Ribarska St., baker. Way of the Cross in 1945
65. KLEM, Antun, 1912, Starčevićeva St., baker. Way of the Cross in 1945
66. KOLAR, Andra, 1914?, Starčevićeva St. Way of the Cross in 1945
67. KOLAR, Đuro
68. KOLAR, Joška
69. KOLAR, Štipa, 1916?, Starčevićeva St. Way of the Cross in 1945
70. KONRAD, Antun. Murdered in the camp.
71. KONRAD, Karlo. Died on the Eastern Front.
72. KONRAD, Sofia. She was murdered by Partisans.
73. KONTRA, Ivan, 1920?, Grobljanska St., worker, Way of the Cross 1945
74. KONTRA, Pero
75. KOSOVIĆ, Ivica, 1924, Ađanski kraj. Way of the Cross in 1945
76. KOVAČEVIĆ, Andra, 1924, Grobljanska, butcher. Way of the Cross in 1945
77. KOVAČEVIĆ – Tičarić. Civilian. She was killed during the attack on Ilok on December 4, 1944 near the tower in Koševi.
78. KOVAČIĆ, Josip, 1888?, Glavna St., municipal notary. Civilian. After the capture of Ilok in 1944, he was murdered in the District Court building.
79. KOVAČIĆ, Mirko, 1914, Glavna St., pharmacist. Way of the Cross in 1945
80. KUNIĆ, 1908?, Staklenac (Đ. Salaja), farmer. Way of the Cross in 1945
81. KUŠTRA, Pero, 1925. Way of the Cross 1945
82. LAPOŠ, Janika
83. LASIĆ, Josip, 1919, Faluge, tailor. Way of the Cross in 1945
84. LASIC, Stanko. Way of the Cross in 1945
85. LUKIČIĆ Jozo
86. MAĐAREVIĆ, Vlatko, 1914, Glavna St., forest engineer. Way of the Cross in 1945
87. MAĐAREVIĆ, Zvonko, 1922?, Glavna St., merchant. Way of the Cross in 1945
88. MAHOVLIĆ, 1914?, Glavna St.. Killed in the attack on Ilok on September 29 and 30, 1944
89. MAKALA, Ivan, 1912?, Čaira (Harambašićeva – Strossmayerova St.), farmer. Way of the Cross in 1945
90. MARGET, Mijo
91. MARIJANOVIĆ (MARIJANAC), Marijan, 1912?, Šokačko brdo, butcher. Way of the Cross in 1945
92. MAROŠEVIĆ, Josip, 1919, Grobljanska St., typographer. Way of the Cross in 1945
93. MARTIN, Ivica, son of Ilija. 1923?, Starčevićeva St. 3, farmer. Murdered in Sesvete in 1945. Buried in Dok.
94. MARTIN, Stjepan, 1910, merchant. Way of the Cross in 1945
95. MARTINOVIĆ, Ivica, 1923, Čaira. Way of the Cross in 1945
96. MARTINOVIĆ, Josip
97. MARTINOVIĆ, Mirko, Bubin. 1919. Starčevićeva St. 1, merchant. Murdered in Kapela in 1943
98. MARTINOVIĆ, Vlatko (Bubin), 1919, Starčevićeva St. 28, tailor. Way of the Cross in 1945 (last sighting in Sisak)
99. MATKOVIĆ, Antun – Tunja, 1897, Radićeva St., farmer. Civilian. Murdered in the camp in Valpovo
100. MATKOVIĆ, Đuro, 1921, Starčevićeva St. 2, teacher. Way of the Cross in 1945 in Slovenia
101. MATKOVIĆ, Ivica, 1900?, Čolićeva St., surveyor. Civilian. Was in prison in Srijemska Mitrovica. Left to die at home
102. MATKOVIĆ, Mirko, 1895, Ađanski kraj, merchant. Civilian. Shot at Šinteraj on December 8, 1944
103. MATKOVIĆ, Mirko, 1908?, Čaršija, baker. Died in Čaglin. Buried in Ilok
104. MATKOVIĆ, Vlatko, 1923, Starčevićeva St. 2, teacher. Way of the Cross in 1945
105. MATKOVIĆ, Zvonko, 1926, Starčevićeva St. 2, teacher trainee. Beaten and died in the camp in Osijek. Buried in Osijek, St. Anna’s Cemetery
106. MATOŠKOVIĆ, Stjepan, 1916?, Ađanski kraj, farmer. Way of the Cross in 1945
107. MECING, Ana, 1886, Kumičićeva St. 9, housewife. Civilian. Died in the camp in Beli Manastir in 1946.
108. MECING, Eugen, 21 August 1914, Kumičićeva St. 9, civil servant. Killed as a Home Guardsman on February 6, 1944 in a bus that was attacked by Partisans near Privina Glava while returning from the battlefield.
109. MEŠTROVIĆ, Đuro (Piljicin), Opaliti kraj. Killed in the attack on Ilok on September 29 and 30, 1944
110. MEŠTROVIĆ, (grandfather of Vlatka Čobanković) 1907?, Opaliti kraj, farmer. Way of the Cross in 1945
111. MEŠTROVIĆ, Ivica, Meštrovićeva St. Killed as a Home Guardsman. Buried in Ilok.
112. MEŠTROVIĆ, Ivan?, 1912?, Opaliti kraj, merchant. Way of the Cross in 1945
113. MEŠTROVIĆ, Matiša
114. MIHALJEVIĆ, Ivan – Markucin
115. MIHALJEVIĆ, Marko – Patak. Meštrovićeva 4, blacksmith. Shot at Šinteraj on December 8, 1944
116. MIHELIĆ, Štipa?, 1910, Meštrovićeva 12, tinsmith. Way of the Cross in 1945
117. MIKIĆ, Antun, 1891, Starčevićeva St. 20, farmer. Civilian. Murdered in 1945 in the prison in Srijemska Mitrovica.
118. MIKLIČANIN, Antun – Tonča, 1921, Pušića kraj (R. Končara), farmer. Way of the Cross in 1945
119. MIKLIČANIN (Lemeš) Joca?, 1912, Opaliti kraj, farmer. Way of the Cross in 1945
120. MIKLIN, Andrija, 1908, Kumičićeva St., notary. Civilian. Shot at Šinteraj on December 8, 1944
121. NOVAKOVIĆ, Mato
122. OBAJDIN, Josip, 1923?, Faluge, worker. Way of the Cross in 1945
123. PAIĆ, Ivan, 1912?, Faluge. Way of the Cross in 1945
124. PISAREVIĆ, Ivan, 1914, Starčevićeva St. 7, shoemaker. Way of the Cross in 1945
125. PLETIKAPIĆ, Antun, 1893, Radićeva St. 21, farmer. Civilian. Murdered in 1944 in Srijemska Mitrovica.
126. PLETIKAPIĆ, Drago
127. PLETIKAPIĆ, Tunje, Ivica (Filic), 1921, Čaira 24, carpenter. Way of the Cross in 1945
128. PLETIKAPIĆ, Ivan (Baća Filić), 1918, Radićeva St., farmer. Shot at Šinteraj on December 8, 1944
129. PLETIKAPIĆ, Ivica (Firmus), 1910, Radićeva St. 27, engineer. electrical engineering. Murdered near Berkasovo in 1943. Buried in Ilok.
130. PLETIKAPIĆ, Ladislav (Laća), 1911, Radićeva St., farmer. Lynched in 1944 in Ilok.
131. PLETIKAPIĆ, Marko (Firmus), 1912, Radićeva St. 27, farmer. Way of the Cross in 1945
132. PLETIKAPIĆ, Marko, 1914?, Radićeva St., farmer. Way of the Cross in 1945
133. PLETIKAPIĆ, Pavica, daughter of Ilija, 1921, killed during the attack on Ilok on September 29 and 30, 1944. She was tied with wire and taken towards Neština to the Vizička Forest, where she was tortured, abused, cut with a saw, and murdered.
134. PLETIKAPIĆ, Ivana, Stjepan (Filić), 1921?, Harambašićeva St. 24, baker.
135. RADIĆ, Ivan, 1910, Radićeva St., farmer. Way of the Cross in 1945
136. RAJHARDT, Drago, 1919?, Čolića kraj, farmer. Way of the Cross in 1945
137. REMETE, Ivan
138. REMETE, Josip, 1910, Radićeva St. 11, tinsmith. Shot at Šinteraj on December 8, 1944
139. SALACKO, Stjepan, 1917?, Čaršija (JNA), butcher. Way of the Cross in 1945
140. SALAVARDA, Ivan
141. SARAČEVIĆ, Franjo, Starčevićeva St., merchant. In an attack on September 29 and 30, 1944, he was murdered somewhere in the forest.
142. SKELEĐIĆ, Ivan, 1913, Radićeva St., shoemaker. Shot at Šinteraj on December 8, 1944
143. SOLDO, Bernard (Brnda), 1910?, Staklenac, worker. Way of the Cross in 1945
144. STOŠIĆ, Ivica, 1920, Opaliti kraj, electrician. Bleiburg, 1945
145. ŠARINIĆ, Josip, 1900?, Čaršija, professor. Way of the Cross in 1945
146. ŠETINA, Petar, 1925, Čolićeva, shoemaker. Way of the Cross in 1945
147. ŠIMIĆ (ŠIMIČEVIĆ), Štipan, 1900, Radićeva St. 23, farmer. Civilian. Murdered in 1944 in Vukovar.
148. ŠKRLIN, Stjepan, 1915?, Radićeva St., teacher. Way of the Cross in 1945
149. ŠTIGLMAJER, Zvonko, Ađanski kraj. Way of the Cross in 1945
150. TEJ, Luka, Opaliti kraj. Murdered at Vašarište in Šid on December 30, 1944
151. TOMIC, Antun, 1921, Kumičićeva St., clerk.
152. TOMIC, Franjo (Toca), 1914, Glavna St., law student. Way of the Cross in 1945
153. TOMIĆ, Mija, 1919, Kumičićeva St. (Z. Jovina), farmer. Way of the Cross in 1945
154. TOMŠIK, Dragan.
155. TOT, Ivica, 1926, teacher trainee. Way of the Cross in 1945
156. WILD, Oto. Died in Tovarnik.
157. VOJTIĆ, Ivica, 1921, Faluge. Way of the Cross in 1945
158. VOJTIC, Štipa
159. VRANKA, Hinko
160. VRANKOVIĆ, Mijo, 1915? Way of the Cross in 1945
161. VRCIBRADIĆ, Jakša, 1921, Čaira, merchant. Way of the Cross in 1945
162. VRDOLJAK, 1908?, innkeeper. Died as an Ustasha. Buried in Ilok.
163. VRDOLJAK, Antun, 1910?, Starčevićeva St. 42, blacksmith. Way of the Cross in 1945
164. VRDOLJAK, Ivan
165. VRDOLJAK, Jozo
166. VRDOLJAK, Marijan
167. VRDOLJAK, Mirko, 1927, Drljan, worker. Way of the Cross in 1945
168. VRDOLJAK, Pero. Murdered near Principovac. Buried in Ilok.
169. VRDOLJAK, Stipo
170. VRDOLJAK, 1925, Drljan, worker. Way of the Cross in 1945
171. WEBER, Matija, 1894?, Market, merchant. Murdered after the attack on Ilok on September 29 and 30, 1944
During the attack on Ilok on December 4, 1944, three women were murdered whose names are not on this list.
In Zagreb, December 7, 1994.
Sources and literature:
Zlata Gvozdić-Filjak, Juraj Lončarević, Srijemska kalvarija Hrvata, Zagreb, 1995.
Mato Batorović, Stipan Kraljević, Ilok u okruženju, izlazak u konvoju, Iločani u progonstvu, Zagreb, 1993.
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