Muhidin M. BAŠAGIĆ

MUHIDIN HIDO BAŠAGIĆ also known as AGER, son of MEHMED, born in 1917 or 1918 in Nevesinje. A student of agronomy in Zemun, he lived with his family in Mostar. A football player for FC “Velež” and a prominent activist of the National Liberation War. A member of the League of Communist Youth (SKOJ) since 1939 and the Communist Party of Yugoslavia since 1940, serving as the secretary of the local Communist Party cell in Nevesinje. In June 1941, he informed the residents of Donji Drežanj about the Ustaša’s intentions to commit a massacre in the village, enabling the villagers to organize their defense. He joined the Battalion in September 1941, serving as the company’s political commissar. Alongside Mustafa Ćemalović Ćimba, he was captured in July (according to some sources, August) 1943 near Konjic. As couriers, they carried mail from the Supreme Headquarters to the 10th Herzegovinian Brigade and Montenegro. They were betrayed to the German troops by a local resident. They were executed in Ovčari near Mostar on August 26, 1943. A monument was erected in Ovčari in their honor, bearing their names. Ljubo Brešan was also killed in Ovčari at that time (according to some sources), as well as Muhidin’s sister Hajrija Bašagić (according to some sources). After the war, their remains were transferred and buried at the Partisan Cemetery in Mostar.

E. Ćemalović wrote about Muhidin:

“Muhidin Bašagić, a student, served as the permanent secretary of the party cell in a battalion company. A true educator, he had the patience to listen to everyone in distress and find the appropriate words that would bind them. He was always in the combat formation during the actions of his company. He was loved and respected by all comrades in the battalion.”

Regarding the events in Donji Drežanj:

“(…) the most successful organized fight to prevent and condemn the criminal Ustaša policy in this area was led by the organizations of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) and the League of Communist Youth (SKOJ) in Nevesinje. The soul of this versatile and well-organized, and for that time, successful engagement of communists, SKOJ members, and many other honest influential individuals, was the secretary of the KPJ cell in the city, Muhidin – Hido Bašagić. Thanks to his personal contribution, many lives were saved. Due to Hido’s timely information, the residents of Donji Drežanj escaped the fate of Udrežanj. Through the Muslim Kevelj family from Ožak, Hido sent an urgent message to Drago Unković in Ljeskovik, and Drago immediately conveyed it to the neighbors in Donji Drežanj. These proud mountaineers did not hesitate much. They acted in the spirit of the liberation traditions of the people of this region and, on June 3, 1941, offered a decisive armed resistance to the Ustaša criminals. It was the first spark in the darkness that fascist soldiery imposed on enslaved Europe. That spark grew into an unquenchable torch of liberation during the June and July uprisings throughout Yugoslavia, led by Tito and the Party. After the successful resistance, the people of Drežanj commented: ‘We did well, we saved lives, preserved our dignity, and continued the insurgent tradition of Nevesinje. We will rebuild the burned houses.’ (Milosav Čabrilo, ‘Between Velež and Sniježnica,’ Hercegovina in the People’s Liberation War, Part 4)

*Sources claim that Muhidin was captured near Konjic but executed in Ovčari, which contradicts the initial inscription on the memorial plaque.