Drago Štajnberger (born Adolf Steinberger; 15 February 19163 March 1942) was a Croatian-Jewish

Partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

and a

People's Hero of Yugoslavia The Order of the People's Hero or the Order of the National Hero ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Orden narodnog heroja, Oрден народног хероја; sl, Red narodnega heroja, mk, Oрден на народен херој, Orden na ...

. Štajnberger was born on 15 February 1916 in

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, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

to a Jewish family of Mavro Štajnberger. In his early youth he joined the

Young Communist League of Yugoslavia , SKOJ mk, Сојуз на комунистичката младина на Југославија, СКМЈ sl, Zveza komunistične mladine Jugoslavije, ZKMJ , colorcode = red , founded = 1919 , dissolved = 1948 , succeeded by = League of S ...

. In 1937, during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

he went to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

as a volunteer, soon to be included in the ranks of the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

. He was known as a brave and resourceful fighter. In 1938, Štajnberger became a member of the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...

. Afterwards he returned to Zagreb. During

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 ...

, he was imprisoned at the

concentration camps in France Numerous internment camps and concentration camps were located in France before, during and after World War II. Beside the camps created during World War I to intern German, Austrian and Ottoman civilian prisoners, the Third Republic (1871–19 ...

from which he was deported for forced labour to Nazi Germany. He managed to escape in mid-July 1941, and move to the occupied territory of Yugoslavia, in Croatia. Upon arrival, Štajnberger briefly stayed in Zagreb, and then moved to the liberated territory in

Kordun The Kordun () region is a part of central Croatia from the bottom of the Petrova Gora (Peter's mountain) mountain range, which extends along the rivers Korana and Slunjčica, and forms part of the border region to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Within C ...

. He helped organize the first

units in Perjasica, Kestenjac, Veljun, Kloloć and Kladuša. Among the Partisans and the people of Kordun at the time, he was known by his birth name Adolf. At the beginning of 1942, Italian fascists with the help from the

Chetniks The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...

captured Štajnberger with fellow fighters

Robert Domany Robert Domany (also spelled Domani; 16 February 19083 March 1942) was a Croatian Partisan and a People's Hero of Yugoslavia. Domany was born in Orahovica on 16 February 1908 to a Sephardic Jewish family. He had a younger brother, Rudolf Domany ...

, Branko Latas and Stevo Čuturilo. All of them were killed by Chetniks, and afterwards their bodies were thrown in the pit of Balinka. Štajnberger was declared a

on 27 July 1942 and was among the first recipients of the award. The four men's bodies were found in 1966 by a British caving team, after which they were buried in a common grave in

Plaški Plaški ( sr-Cyrl, Плашки) is a village and a municipality in Karlovac County, Croatia. It is part of Lika. Geography Plaški is situated in the lower part of the Ogulin-Plaški valley. Together with Gorski kotar and Lika, the Ogulin-Pla ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stajnberger, Drago 1916 births 1942 deaths Military personnel from Zagreb Croatian Jews Jews from Austria-Hungary Croatian Austro-Hungarians Yugoslav Partisans members Croatian communists Croatian people of the Spanish Civil War Croatian people of World War II People killed by Chetniks during World War II International Brigades personnel Jewish socialists Jews in the Yugoslav Partisans Croatian revolutionaries Yugoslav military personnel killed in World War II