brochure “Partizanski spomenik u Mostaru” (1980)
book “Spomenica Mostara 1941-1945.”
another document or proof of the memorial stone (e.g., a photograph).
Jovan L. RAČIĆ
JOVAN RAČIĆ, son of LAZAR, born in 1898* in Zijemlje. Farmer. Leader of the movement in Zijemlje, commander of the Prenj Detachment, which consisted of around 45 fighters. In 1921, he was convicted of desertion from the old Yugoslav army. After 15 years of imprisonment, he escaped from the Zenica prison to Albania. He returned to Zijemlje in the summer of 1943 and immediately joined the National Liberation War (NOP). Member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) since 1943. He was killed by the Chetniks on February 1, 1944. He was described as a “sturdy and robust mountaineer.”
From the memories of comrades about Jovan:
“As we bid farewell to Jovan, I warned him not to go alone because the Chetniks would be after him. Jovan replied that I shouldn’t worry about him. On his way back to Zijemlje, Jovan stopped by the village of Cesim, where old Lazar and Sima Bjelica lived, members of the NOP from the early days of the uprising, to spend the night there. Upon learning about Jovan’s presence in Cesim, the Chetnik commander Remetić arrived with a dozen Chetniks, surrounded the house, and called on Jovan to surrender. To prevent the Chetniks from killing the people in the Bjelica household, Jovan jumped out of the house and ran across a wall to a nearby sinkhole, but he was wounded in the arm and leg in the process. The Chetniks approached him from behind and killed him, then shot at his lifeless body and riddled it with bullets (…) Inhabitants of Zijemlje carried Jovan Račić’s lifeless body from Cesim to Zijemlje and buried him in their cemetery. After Jovan’s death, there was a stagnation in our movement in Zijemlje. A certain number of fighters from the Prenj Partisan Detachment, due to Chetnik threats to burn down their homes, returned to their ranks, and organized communists maintained secret communication among themselves and later joined the units of the 29th Herzegovina Division.”
*According to the data in the book Spomenica Mostara 1941-1945.
Ćemalović, Enver (1986): Mostarski bataljon, Mostar; Seferović, Mensur (1988): Trinaesta Hercegovačka NOU Brigada, Beograd; Komnenović, Danilo; Kreso, Muharem (1979): 29. hercegovačka divizija, IZ, Beograd; grupa autora: Spomenica Mostara 1941-1945.
Photo of the memorial plaque: S. Demirović.
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