Božo M. SKOČAJIĆ 

BOŽIDAR BOŽO SKOČAJIĆ, son of MAKSIM, born on December 25, 1921* in Nevesinje. Completed primary school in Mostar. A member of the League of Communist Youth (SKOJ) since 1941, joined the Battalion in November 1941, a fighter. During the Chetnik coup, he was sent back from Crno Polje due to exhaustion, captured by the NDH (Independent State of Croatia) armed forces in Rujište near Mostar on June 17, 1942, handed over to the Italians, and taken to the Mamula camp. After Italy’s capitulation, he was released. Arrested by the Germans as a hostage for a cut off telephone line in Mostar, and hanged in retribution on November 19, 1943, along with Božo Skočajić, Darinka Bitanga, Ekrem Ćurić, and Toma Kljujić. A monument was erected near the Health Center, along with a memorial plaque at the location where they were hanged.

The police chief of the Ustasha, Mato Roko, wrote a report on November 26, 1943, about that event:

“On November 16, 1943, in the morning, an unknown perpetrator cut the telegraph cables of the German armed forces on Dr. Starčevića Street, specifically at the railway crossing (at that time, the railway passed through the city center in front of the Gymnasium, editor’s note).” The investigation into this matter was carried out by the German military authorities. Since this act was obviously an act of sabotage committed by communist individuals, the General Command of the Fifth Mountain Corps in Mostar made the decision to publicly hang five individuals, one of whom was someone close among the partisans. Based on this decision, the following individuals from Mostar were hanged this morning on Ustaška Street, in front of the building of the District Office: Božo Skočajić, of Orthodox faith, Ekrem Ćurić, of Islamic faith, Mujo Babić, of Islamic faith, Darinka Bitanga, of Catholic faith, and Tomo Kljujić, of Orthodox faith, originally from Metković.” (M. Konjhodžić, Mostar Women, p. 251)