Damjan Štrbac ( sr, Дамјан Штрбац, 19 February 1912 – 17 July 1941) was a

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...

priest. He was

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...

as ''Saint Damian Grahovski''.

Biography

Štrbac was born in Plavno near

Knin Knin (, sr, link=no, Книн, it, link=no, Tenin) is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagr ...

. He finished seminary in

Cetinje Cetinje (, ) is a town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital (''prijestonica'' / приjестоница) of Montenegro and is the location of several national institutions, including the official residence of the president of Montenegro ...

in 1932. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

on March 17 and a priest on March 18, 1934 in

Šibenik Šibenik () is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is a political, educational, transport, industrial and tourist center of Šibenik-Knin County, and is also the ...

. He served in Žegar and then in

Bosansko Grahovo Bosansko Grahovo ( sr-cyr, Босанско Грахово) is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in western Bosnia and Herzegovina along ...

when the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

started. At the end of May 1941, the fascist italy army withdrew from Grahovo and its surroundings, and was replaced by an

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian Fascism, fascist and ultranationalism, ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaš ...

unit, who immediately proceeded on 14 June 1941 to arrest citizens from the place and the surrounding area. Among them, the priest Damjan was arrested. He spent almost twenty days in the prison of the District Court in Bosansko Grahovo, and after that he was taken to

, and then to

Gospić Gospić () is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj County. Gospić is located near the Lika River in the middle of a karst field ( Ličko Polje). Gospić is the ...

, where he was held as a detainee no. 577. He was taken from the camp to the

Jadovno concentration camp The Jadovno concentration camp was a concentration and extermination camp in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War II. Commanded by Juco Rukavina, it was the first of twenty-six concentration camps in the NDH during the war. Est ...

and killed there, that is, he was skinned alive by the Ustashas and then thrown into a pit. At the regular session Holy Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, 20 in May 2003, at the suggestion of Bishop Chrysostom of Bihać-Petrovac, he was included in the Council of Saints priest-

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

of the Church of God. His memorial is celebrated on 31 May.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strbac, Dajam Serbian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church 1941 deaths 20th-century Eastern Orthodox martyrs New Martyrs People executed by the Independent State of Croatia People murdered in the Independent State of Croatia Yugoslav people who died in the Holocaust Serbian people who died in the Holocaust Deaths by blade weapons People who died in Jadovno concentration camp 1912 births