Dragutin R. MASTILOVIĆ 

DRAGUTIN DRAGO MASTILOVIĆ, son of RADE, born on May 15, 1914, in Mostar. Lawyer, member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) since 1938. In February 1941, as a severely ill tuberculosis patient, he was placed in a hospital in Gacko, where he continued his party work in the Gacko area. He remained active even after the occupation of Yugoslavia until June 1941 when, with the help of the Mostar party organization, he was transferred to Sarajevo, where he passed away in a hospital.

EXCERPT FROM LITERATURE:

“(In Gacko) concrete actions began in 1938 with the arrival of Drago Mastilović, who worked systematically. Drago was full of will and enthusiasm, he had many excellent ideas, and a lot of acquaintances which enabled him to have conversations with people, informing them about political events in the world and our country, presenting the KP’s positions in the struggle against the regime, thus influencing the orientation of the masses. His work was particularly fruitful during the school holidays when high school students gathered in Gacko and Avtovac. His non-building work bore fruit in 1940 when there were five Party members in Gacko, including Drago, but soon three of them were bypassed. I believe that during that period there could have been many more Party members in the Gacko area if Drago had approached the admission of people he brought into the Party more boldly, people who were very honest and loyal but whom he wanted to test through specific actions.”

During the April War, Drago fell seriously ill with tuberculosis and was hospitalized. For a while, he still participated in decision-making, but later it became impossible: “Drago became seriously ill and was in the hospital. Although seriously ill, he actively managed fieldwork in Gacko (…) the events deeply affected him, further worsening his condition (…) We talked to Drago about the new situation and agreed to admit new members to the Party and establish two cells – one in Avtovac and one in Gacko (…) Despite being a bureau cell, Drago still exerted a strong influence in leading the party work (…) During this period, Drago Mastilović was still in the hospital, and all possibilities of his involvement in the development of the uprising in Gacko ceased (…)”