Avdo O. TRBONJA 

AVDO TRBONJA, son of OSMAN, born on January 25, 1913, in Mostar. Tailor, football player for FC “Velež,” labor movement activist. Arrested by the Ustaše in 1941 in Mostar, taken to the Jasenovac camp, and killed.

EXCERPT FROM LITERATURE:

During winter, a Muslim man from Mostar named Avdo Trbonja was brought to the camp and left in the barracks among us Serbian prisoners. Commissioner of the camp, Luburić Vjekoslav, happened to pass by the barracks, and when he saw Avdo, he immediately approached him as an old friend. It was clear from everything that they knew each other well, as Luburić recognized him right away and stayed in conversation with him for almost half an hour. Avdo complained to him about being brought to the camp, and Luburić told him to come to his office, promising to do something for him. Avdo then went to the camp office, but shortly after, we saw him being taken to the guardhouse by the Ustaše. The next morning, it was announced that Avdo Trbonja would be removed from the records. What is important is what Avdo Trbonja told us in the barracks about his relative Luburić. He said that he knew Luburić from Mostar, where Luburić was employed as a clerk in the District Office in 1934 and was dismissed from service due to some irregularities and misuse of funds. According to Avdo’s words, as Luburić faced arrest, he decided to go into exile, and on that occasion, Avdo claims that he gave his friend 7,000 dinars for the journey. As Avdo told us, Luburić’s departure into exile was not driven by any political motives but rather as an escape from imprisonment due to embezzlement in the District Office. For all the good Avdo did for Luburić, Luburić repaid him by simply “liquidating” him. (Source: Halilbegović, Nihad (2006): Bosniaks in the Jasenovac Camp, Sarajevo, according to A. Miletić, n.d. book I; Belgrade 1986, p. 321.)