\u017dIVOTA NEIMAREVI\u0106*, son of SAVA; born on November 8, 1920, in Mostar. Tailor by trade. His father Sava was a well-known pre-war communist and revolutionary. \u017divota became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) in 1939 and served as the secretary of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia for Nevesinje from 1941 to 1942. He was one of the first fighters, part of the initial group of volunteers consisting of 28 Mostar communists, who went to the eastern Herzegovina region in the summer of 1941 to work on uprising activities. Leading the group was Savo Medan. Equipped with 16 rifles, 150 rounds of ammunition per rifle, a revolver, and at least two “kragujevka” rifles, \u017divota and Gojko Samard\u017ei\u0107, both tailors, sewed slippers made of bovine leather for all the volunteers, allowing them to move silently through the city to join the detachment. \u017divota was sent to the Nevesinje region to organize the partisan army. He served as the deputy political commissar in the headquarters of the First Battalion. He was captured by the Chetniks “during the withdrawal of partisan forces from Herzegovina and handed over to the Italians.” He was executed on July 28, 1942, near Bile\u0107a.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After \u017divota’s death, an Italian record was found. Carabinieri commander Giuseppe Falcone, who reported from Bile\u0107a to the command in Dubrovnik, stated that on July 28, 1942, “at 5 o’clock, a squad of voluntary anti-communist militia from Bile\u0107a carried out the death penalty on the communist \u017divota Neimarevi\u0107, the son of the late Sava and Anika Andelopolj,” who was shot in Mostar and was 21 years old. The report mentioned that he was previously captured and wounded in the Bile\u0107a area, and it stated: “The punishment was carried out near the Orthodox cemetery. Before the execution, the condemned refused to have a blindfold placed over his eyes and requested to speak. When allowed to do so, he declared his innocence. As soon as the squad commander ordered the firing, Neimarevi\u0107 shouted: ‘Long live the Communist Party of Yugoslavia!'”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Excerpts from literature:<\/p>\n\n\n\n After \u017divota joined the detachment, his family (grandmother Cvijeta, mother Anika, brother Todor, sister Ksenija, and brother Pavle) left for Serbia, as instructed by the Ustasha authorities. “\u017divota was at the rear of the column, overseeing that they took everything. I followed them to say goodbye to \u017divota, but he didn’t allow me to. Instead, he bid me farewell and told me to take care of our mother, brother, sister, and grandmother, who were going to Serbia, as I was now the oldest male in the family. He told me that if things got tough for me in Serbia, I should return and continue working for ‘our cause.’ As they passed by Laza Radi\u0161i\u0107’s house, where Laza’s daughter Gana and Ljubica Samard\u017ei\u0107 (now Devi\u0107, living in Belgrade) were sitting, \u017divota spoke to Gana and asked her not to tell anyone what they had seen. (\u2026) That was the last time \u017divota saw his family. We didn’t hear anything about him throughout the war. It wasn’t until January 1945 that we learned of his death.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u017divota’s brother Pavle, also a member of the Communist Youth League (SKOJ) since 1940 and part of the partisan ranks from 1944, described the first days of the war in Mostar: the brief April War – \u017divota’s efforts to rally the scattered army, collecting abandoned weapons, and distributing food to impoverished families (Pavle Neimarovi\u0107, “Before the War Task”):<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The first rays of sunlight on April 6, 1941, found me in the garden below the house. From that spot, the Jasenice airport was visible as the palm of my hand. In front of the hangars, the planes glistened in the morning sun. Parades and inspections took place every Sunday, which I enjoyed observing. Suddenly, between 6 and 7 o’clock, a larger group of planes appeared from the southwest, flying low directly above the airport. A tremendous roar followed; explosions echoed one after another. I neither saw nor heard the planes dropping any cargo, as I paid no attention to it. After the explosions, columns of smoke rose over the airport – from the hangars and the planes in front of them. The group of planes flew over the city from south to north, and then more explosions were heard, accompanied by columns of smoke and dust around the coal mine. Some planes separated and headed west, while others returned at a lower altitude above the city, engaging in machine gun fire against the remaining planes on the ground. In Mostar, there were frequent exercises with planes, so we were accustomed to the noise. Initially, I thought it was some kind of exercise, so I didn’t pay much attention to it. However, neighbors started appearing in the gardens, asking me what was causing the thundering noise. \u017divota and Sava Medan ran up and also asked me what was happening. When they saw the smoke at the airport and the mine, and the circling planes unleashing fire, they immediately concluded that it might be an undeclared war. Sava told the neighbors the same, and we all went back to the yard. In the upper courtyard, we met my sister Ksenija, whom \u017divota had ordered to be in front of the church early in the morning, before 6 o’clock, to hear what people would say when they saw the slogans we had written on the church walls overnight. Sava immediately went down the streets to the city, and \u017divota walked along the street towards the army positions, located in Paja Svorcan’s meadow just behind the last houses. I hurried after \u017divota. There was a deployed battery of anti-aircraft guns, and a little higher, in the area east of the Orthodox New Cemetery, on Medan’s meadow, there were anti-aircraft guns\u2026 I left the shop, leaving Jovo Pejanovi\u0107 inside, who also worked at Milan’s place. (\u2026) \u017divota asked the soldiers why they weren’t shooting at the enemy planes, whether they didn’t see that it was war and that they had destroyed all the planes at the airport. The soldiers remained silent at first, and then they said they had no orders to open fire and told him to leave. Then a lieutenant arrived, who lived in Vidak Ivelja’s house. When the soldiers told him how \u017divota was urging them to shoot, he started shouting at \u017divota, accusing him of spreading communist propaganda, claiming it wasn’t a war but just exercises because he would have been informed if war had been declared. He ordered \u017divota to leave, as he would be arrested! He soon inquired about it from Dare Ivelja, Vidak’s daughter, who came out to see what was happening, who \u017divota was and what he was, whether he was a communist, saying that he was inciting the soldiers. As \u017divota had already gone home, the lieutenant sent a soldier with a rifle to bring him, but the experienced communist had already taken cover. We went back to the garden. While \u017divota was talking to the neighbors about the war, someone came running and shouted that the radio had reported that Belgrade had been bombed and that the enemy had treacherously attacked us without declaring war. At that moment, a plane flew low from north to south, and we heard the first machine gun fire from the anti-aircraft guns positioned above our houses. It was clear to see the tracer rounds hitting the plane, which shortly thereafter crashed below \u010cekrk towards the village of Be\u010devi\u0107i. We were thrilled by the downing of the enemy plane but saddened by the realization that the war had indeed started. \u017divota and I went back to the soldiers in their positions. The lieutenant spoke sharply over the phone, as if arguing with someone, constantly looking at \u017divota, but no longer threatening or swearing as before. It seems he realized that \u017divota was right and that they were an hour late in opening fire on the enemy planes. During that time, the enemy had achieved a lot, as they had destroyed almost all of our planes.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u017dIVOTA NEIMAREVI\u0106*, son of SAVA; born on November 8, 1920, in Mostar. Tailor by trade. His father Sava was a well-known pre-war communist and revolutionary. \u017divota became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) in 1939 and served as the secretary of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia for Nevesinje from 1941 to 1942. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":32588,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[314,331,316],"tags":[317,330],"prezime":[428],"class_list":["post-13071","partizan","type-partizan","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-18-25-g-en","category-poginuli-1942-en","category-poginuli-u-bih-en","tag-bataljon-en","tag-foto-en","prezime-n-en","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"ptb_metabox":{"ptb_partizan_izvori":" \u0106emalovi\u0107, Enver (1986): Mostarski bataljon<\/a>, Mostar; grupa autora (1961): Hercegovina u NOB 1. dio<\/a>, Beograd, Vojno delo; grupa autora (1986): Hercegovina u NOB\u00a0 2. dio<\/a>, Beograd; Baji\u0107, Nevenka: Komunisti\u010dka partija Jugoslavije u Hercegovini u ustanku 1941. godine<\/a>; grupa autora: Spomenica Mostara 1941-1945. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n Photo of the memorial plaque<\/em>: S. Demirovi\u0107 (2018), photo of the fighter: brochure \"Partizanski spomenik u Mostaru\"<\/p>","ptb_partizan_datum_rodzenja":"(1920. Mostar \u2013 1942. Bile\u0107a)","ptb_partizan_godina":"22","ptb_partizan_galerija_1":{"url":["http:\/\/partizansko.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Sava-Neimarevic.png","http:\/\/partizansko.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Neimarevic-Zivota-oglas.jpg","http:\/\/partizansko.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Zivota-Neimarevic-sahrana.jpg","http:\/\/partizansko.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/ksenija-neimarevic.jpg","http:\/\/partizansko.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Zivote-Neimarevica.jpg"],"link":["","","","",""],"title":["revolutionary Sava Neimarevi\u0107, father of \u017divota. He tragically perished in the Soviet Union during Stalin's chistkas.","a notice regarding the transfer of the \u017divota Neimarevi\u0107's remains to Mostar (31.10.1953.)","The remains of \u017divota Neimarevi\u0107 were found and reinterred after the war.","Ksenija Neimarevi\u0107, sister of \u017divota, SKOJ member in her youth.","\u017divote Neimarevi\u0107a street (aka \"Trtkov sokak\") in Mostar is located in the proximity of the Lu\u010dki bridge, and is parallel to the Ga\u0161e Ili\u0107a street. Photo: A. Gu\u0161i\u0107."],"description":["","","","",""]},"ptb_partizan_poruka_":"Do you have more information about this fighter? Share<\/a> your stories and photographs. Let's keep the memory alive!","ptb_partizan_prepravke":"Corrections: \u017divota S. NEIMAREVI\u0106 (1920. Mostar \u2013 1942. Bile\u0107a)","ptb_partizan_ploca":{"1":"http:\/\/partizansko.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Neimarovic-Zivota-IMG_2949-rotated.jpg","2":"http:\/\/partizansko.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Neimarovic-Zivota-IMG_2949-rotated.jpg"},"ptb_partizan_spisak_info":["partizan_spisak_info_1","partizan_spisak_info_2","partizan_spisak_info_3"]},"ptb_taxonomy":{"category":[{"term_id":314,"name":"18-25 y\/o","slug":"18-25-g-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":314,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":415,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":331,"name":"died in 1942","slug":"poginuli-1942-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":331,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":100,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":316,"name":"died in BiH","slug":"poginuli-u-bih-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":316,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":518,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[{"term_id":317,"name":"Fallen fighters of the Mostar Battalion.","slug":"bataljon-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":317,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"[gallery link=\"file\" size=\"medium\" ids=\"7114,7116,7122\"]\r\n\r\nMostar Battalion was formed as the \"Konji\u010dki\" in September 1941. Until the formation of the 13th Herzegovina Brigade in May 1944, 827 fighters passed through the Battalion, and 445 of them perished, including 211 from Mostar. Of the 86 women, 43 were killed. Mostar residents also fought in many other units of the NOVJ (People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia) and among the ranks of the activists of the National Liberation War in Mostar and other cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina... According to the records of the organization SUBNOR Mostar, every third citizen was an activist of the National Liberation War, 670 fighters were killed, 1517 were victims of fascist terror, and 206 were civilian war victims. D\u017eemil \u0160arac, article \"Sa Mostarcima\" (\"With the People from Mostar\"), Hercegovina No. 9, p. 221.\r\n\r\n\"And we were all young. Those of us who were 17, 18 years old, some seemed old even though they were not older than 25. The ones over 30 were rare. There were girls and boys with different characteristics and temperaments, robust and calm, talkative and silent, recklessly brave and rational, ordinary and above-average, semi-literate and university-educated, workers and highly skilled craftsmen, high school students and university students, skilled singers and those who couldn't carry a tune, jokers and serious-minded individuals. From all our nations and religions: Muslims, Croats, Serbs, Jews, Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Muslims, Jews, atheists, and semi-atheists. Some were from straight from Mostar and others from the surrounding locations, from Konjic and outside Konjic.\" (Hercegovina Magazine No. 7, p. 238)\r\n\r\nGroups of new fighters arrived from Mostar every 10-15 days, and the Unit quickly grew into a solid military force. The guides for the groups from Mostar were Mehmed Arap, Vasa Maslo, Serif Buri\u0107, Husa Orman, Vojo Ivani\u0161evi\u0107, and Pero Krajina, who were among the bravest and most resourceful fighters. The groups regularly brought not only weapons but also medical supplies, sugar for the hospital, writing materials, large quantities of paper, books taken from the National Library (which formed the library at Borci), and other supplies for the needs of the Unit. (Source: https:\/\/www.cidom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Hercegovina-u-NOB-1.pdf<\/u><\/a>)\r\n\r\nAfter the war, a street in Mostar was named after the Mostar Battalion.","parent":0,"count":240,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":330,"name":"foto","slug":"foto-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":330,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":288,"filter":"raw"}],"prezime":[{"term_id":428,"name":"N","slug":"n-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":428,"taxonomy":"prezime","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw"}]},"ptb_featured_image":{"url":"http:\/\/partizansko.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Zivota-Neimarevic.jpg","title":"\u017divota Neimarevi\u0107","caption":""},"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/partizan\/13071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/partizan"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/partizan"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/partizan\/13071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14566,"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/partizan\/13071\/revisions\/14566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13071"},{"taxonomy":"prezime","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partizansko.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prezime?post=13071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}