Anđelko M. ĆORLUKA

ANĐELKO ĆORLUKA, son of MIHO, born on October 29, 1926, in Pijesak near Mostar. Farmer. Member of the League of Communist Youth (SKOJ) since 1943. Killed by the Germans on July 12, 1943, in the massacre in Orašje near Stolac.

EXCERPT FROM LITERATURE:

“Orašje served as a base for receiving youth groups, various supplies, and food from Mostar for the Mostar Youth Detachment. The fighters from Sutjeska had a safe haven in Rotimlja on their passage to Dalmatia, as they were provided with food and sent to their respective regions through courier connections. Prior to entering Mostar, part of the fighters from the Mostar Battalion, while breaking through from Sutjeska, stayed in Rotimlja for several days, where they were treated and fed.

At dawn, around 6 o’clock on July 12th, columns of SS soldiers arrived from the direction of Mostar, Domanovići, and Stolac, surrounding the hamlet of Orašje, which consisted of 15 households. The Nazis forced the inhabitants who were in the fields into houses and stables, and then they burst into them, opening fire from machine guns and rifles on children, women, and men, not sparing even the youngest in their cradles. After their bestial retaliation, they set fire to all the houses and stables, laughing proudly at their crime. Only a few individuals managed to save themselves, wounded, by lying among the dead… After the departure of the Germans, people who gathered the courage returned to Orašje to salvage what could be salvaged. In the houses, they found the slain and charred, along with the wounded nearby. The result of this crime was 66 victims of fascist terror, including 21 from Muslim families: Smajo Palata, 18 from Salka Džokla, 11 from Mehmed Bucman, and 9 from Mujo Pehlić’s family. In Orašje, the following individuals from the villages of Pijesci, Boško (52) and Anđelko (17) Ćorluka, Ahmet Husković (50) from Mostar, Omer Bjelavac (12) from the village of Rabine, Pero Pudar (13) and Milan Mihić from the village of Lokve, and Panta Obradović (11) from the village of Trijebanj were present and killed.”