Božidar Magovac (13 October 1908 – 24 January 1955) was a
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
n journalist and politician, a prominent member of the
Croatian Peasant Party
The Croatian Peasant Party (, HSS) is an agrarianism, agrarian List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun Radić, Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). The ...
().
A native of
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
, between December 1939 and April 1941, Magovac was the editor of HSS newspaper ''Seljački dom'' (Peasant Home) jointly with
Juraj Krnjević
Juraj Krnjević (19 February 1895 – 9 January 1988) was a Croatian politician who was among the leaders of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS).Biondich, Mark (2007). Vladko Macek and the Political Right in Croatia, 1928–1941. ''Contemporary Eu ...
, when the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
invasion of Yugoslavia
The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...
happened.
In 1943, he moved to the territory held by
Yugoslav Partisans
The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...
and led a faction of the HSS cooperating with them against the
Axis powers
The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...
. He called on the HSS members to follow his example in a proclamation distributed as leaflets and broadcast by the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
. During the second session of the
(''Zemaljsko antifašističko vijeće narodnog oslobođenja Hrvatske'', ZAVNOH) established and dominated by the
Communist Party of Croatia (''Komunistička partija Hrvatske'', KPH) as the supreme representative body in Croatia, Magovac founded the
HSS executive committee as the top governing body of the HSS in the national liberation movement. There he published the ''Slobodni dom'' (Free Home) as a party newspaper.
As a ZAVNOH delegate, Magovac was also appointed a member of the
(''Antifašističko vijeće narodnog oslobođenja Jugoslavije'', AVNOJ) led by the
Communist Party of Yugoslavia
The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats a ...
(''Komunistička partija Jugoslavije'', KPJ). Magovac was appointed by the AVNOJ the vice-president of the
National Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia
The National Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia (, , NKOJ), also known as the Yugoslav Committee of National Liberation, was the World War II provisional executive body of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, established on 29 November 1943 ...
.
Soon afterwards, Magovac came into conflict with the KPH secretary
Andrija Hebrang over independence of the HSS within the Partisan national liberation movement and his resistance to denounce HSS president
Vladko Maček
Vladimir Maček (20 June 1879 – 15 May 1964) was a politician in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. As a leader of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) following the 1928 assassination of Stjepan Radić, Maček had been a leading Croatian political figure ...
a traitor for his reluctance to support the Partisans and his passivity. In turn, KPH helped Magovac's opponents within the HSS executive committee to isolate him politically and replace Magovac as the leader of the body by
Franjo Gaži
Franjo Gaži (13 February 1900 – 15 November 1964) was a Croatian and Yugoslavian politician.
In 1935 Yugoslavian parliamentary election he was the designated alternate of Croatian Peasant Party (''Hrvatska seljačka stranka'', HSS) candidate ...
. Magovac was
interred
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...
on the
Vis Island from late 1944 until May 1945 when he moved to Zagreb.
After the war, Magovac tried to revive political activity of the HSS with
Ivan Šubašić
Ivan Šubašić (7 May 1892 – 22 March 1955) was a Croat politician, best known as the last Ban of Croatia and Prime Minister of the royalist Yugoslav Government in exile during the Second World War.
Early life
Ivan Šubašić was born in ...
. He was arrested and imprisoned for six years in November 1948 on
trumped-up charges. He died in Zagreb in 1955.
See also
*
Croatian Peasant Party during World War II
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magovac, Božidar
1908 births
1955 deaths
Croatian Peasant Party politicians
Croatian people of World War II
Members of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia
Journalists from Zagreb