dr Asim A. OPIJAČ 

Dr. ASIM OPIJAČ, son of AHMET, born in 1896 (according to some sources, 1898) in Stolac (or Domanovići). One of the pre-war doctors, he worked at the People’s Health Center (DNZ) in Mostar. The Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) established contacts with certain prominent individuals at the beginning of the war who were willing to collaborate with the Communists. In this regard, doctors played a special role, and the DNZ became a significant place where health workers-communists operated. The DNZ staff held several healthcare courses for nurses with excellent attendance, thanks to the personal commitment of the lecturers, including Dr. Zvonko Marić, Dr. Fedor Lukač, Dr. Ivica Milaković, Dr. Vjekoslav Slovinić, Dr. Nikolaj Derjugin, and Dr. Lovro Dojmi. In this way, the trainees were trained in wound dressing, and many of them became nurses in the partisan detachment. Dr. Asim Opijač was also one of the doctors in Mostar, like Hlubna, Marić, and Rajković, to whom Dr. Safet Mujić, the founder of the wartime hospital in Borci at the Šantić Villa, provided lists for the delivery of necessary medical supplies and medications. With their help, regular procurement of medical supplies and medications from Mostar and Konjic was established in the city. He also treated wounded fighters who returned home for recovery. He was arrested in 1945 and transferred to the Jasenovac concentration camp, where he was soon liquidated upon arrival. Dr. Asim Opijač was the brother of Adila Fejić, who lost four sons and a daughter in the National Liberation War (NOR). Besides Dr. Opijač, his brother was also killed in the NOB. He was the father of one child and married to Vjekoslava.

Vjekoslava Opijač, wife of Asim Opijač, gave the following statement after the war on June 5, 1945:

“On January 14, 1945, around 10 o’clock at night, the aforementioned agents (Heršek Janko Vjekoslav, Dumanđić Ivan Paško, editor’s note) came to my house and arrested my husband Asim, stating that they had an order to arrest him. The order was from the Mostar police, whose chief was Sojić and his deputy was Grgić. In Mostar, he was only in prison for two days and on the third day in the morning, he was transported together with Smailaga Ćemalović, Blaško Slišković, Dr. Slovinić, and many others. Approximately 15 days after my husband’s arrest, two Ustasha men who were couriers from Jasenovac came to me and brought the news that my husband was interned in the Jasenovac camp. Soon after, Mostar was liberated, and I lost all contact with him. Asim complained to me several times that he couldn’t bear Dr. Nahić, who was his administrative superior and always caused conflicts. I don’t positively know if Mahić had any involvement in that arrest. I also heard that Dr. Riđanović couldn’t stand him either because at one dinner where, among others, there were Lieutenant Domobranstvo Gala and State Prosecutor Niko Grabovac, he stated that Asim Opijač should also be arrested. Gala and Grabovac could testify to this.”