Borivoje D. ZUROVAC 

BORIVOJE BORO ZUROVAC, son of DRAGO, born on April 18, 1920 (according to the information in the “Spomenica Mostara 1941-1945”), in Mostar, locksmith by trade. Prominent activist and one of the first fighters, member of the Communist Youth Union (SKOJ) and the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ), member of the Central Committee of SKOJ for Mostar. He was part of the first group of volunteers, known as the 28 Mostar Communists, who went to the eastern part of Herzegovina to work on developing an uprising in the region during the summer of 1941. The detachment, led by Savo Medan, set off late in the evening from the Bjelušine neighborhood, armed with 16 rifles and 150 rounds for each rifle. Each fighter had a revolver and at least two “Kragujevka” rifles.

One episode of weapons collection in the city involving Boro was also recorded:

“After dark, Života Neimarević gathered a group of communists and us SKOJ members. In our group, there were: Boro Balać, Đole Balać, Obrad Slijepčević, Boro Radan, Boro Zurovac, Gojko Samardžić, Ibro Džeferović, Vasa Maslo, Todor Neimarević, and myself. We entered the abandoned buildings within the barracks compound. We entered over the wall in Pešinovac because we heard there was a guard at the gate. Gojko Samardžić and Boro Radan stayed outside to guard and wait for us to hand them what we brought out. Following Života’s instructions, we only brought out military equipment: weapons, ammunition, grenades, tent wings, topographic maps, and other items. We brought out 17 military rifles, caliber 7.9 mm, two crates of rifle ammunition, and two crates of hand grenades. There was an open crate of ammunition for a 9 mm pistol, plenty of scattered rifle ammunition gathered in a pouch, tent wings, multiple topographic maps, 2 pistols, 2 compasses, as well as a typewriter and various small items – papers, pencils, and crayons. We handed all of that to Gojko and Boro, and they carried it across the street and hid it behind the gate of the New Cemetery. Then we transferred everything to the cemetery and hid it in the graves and in the grass between them, and the next day we transferred it to the Eagle’s Nest.”

He returned to Mostar from the detachment. Arrested by the Italians for sabotage – the fire at the Tobacco Factory in Mostar in April 1942, when a large warehouse building burned to the ground. On that occasion, Savo Delić, Šefkija Pašić, Jovan Žerajić, and Husnija Rebac were executed by firing squad. The other detainees were taken to prisons or camps in Dalmatia, while the four prominent activists, Dr. Zvonko Marić, Vinko Džidić, Tripo Uljarević, and Borivoje Zurovac, were immediately executed upon their arrival in Herceg-Novi in June 1942.