Ing. Mihajlo Klajn (born Mihajlo Klein; 1912–1941) was a Yugoslav agronomist and

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

who was killed during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. Klajn was born on 24 August 1912 in

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

, Austro-Hungary to a poor

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. In Osijek he finished elementary and high school. In Zagreb Klajn enrolled Faculty of Agriculture at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

. During his study he was emphasized as fair, modest, hard working and persistent person. At the university 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 ...

(SKOJ). He graduated in 1937 and became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ). Upon graduation he returned to Osijek where he was employed at the Agricultural Institute Osijek. Klajn published a book "Kako se gaje uljane biljke" (''How are grown oilseed plants'') in 1938. In Osijek Klajn was named secretary of the provincial committee of the KPJ for eastern

Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...

. His work as a communist and a Jew was noticed by the regime of a newly founded

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...

. He was arrested on 22 September 1941. In prison he was heavily tortured and abused. Klajn withstand the torture and never provide the required information about the KPJ organizations and membership. His last words, written in a letter, to his parents were: ''I'm sorry that I'm dying, but when it has to be, I do not fear at all. I ask you to boldly withstand all life difficulties you may face. I'm sure you will survive. Live for my sake. Live modestly, but with dignity.'' Šumarski list (Šumarsko društvo Narodne Republike Hrvatske); P.J.; Povodom otkrivanja biste Ing. Mihajla Klajna na Poljoprivrednom-Šumarskom fakultetu u Zagrebu; stranica 406, 407; broj 10-11, Listopad-Studeni 1959. Klajn was killed on 22 October 1941 with six of his comrades, he was 29 years old. In 1959 bust of Mihajlo Klajn was revealed at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb as an honor to his sacrifice. His studies are now learned at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb and Faculty of Agriculture in Osijek. Street in Kneževi Vinogradi is named after Klajn and until 1991 in Osijek (now Trpimirova street).

Works

* ''Kako se gaje uljane biljke'', Seljački bukvar, Beograd 1938

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klajn, Mihajlo 1912 births 1941 deaths People from Osijek Croatian Jews Austro-Hungarian Jews Croatian Austro-Hungarians Croatian communists Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb alumni Deaths by firearm in Croatia Jewish socialists Croatian writers Yugoslav Partisans members Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Jews in the Yugoslav Partisans Croatian torture victims Yugoslav military personnel killed in World War II