Nada Dimić (6 September 1923 – 17 March 1942) was a Yugoslav

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 ...

who died in

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 ...

and was proclaimed 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 ...

. Nada Dimić was born in

Divoselo Divoselo ( sr-cyr, Дивосело) is a village in the Gospić municipality in the Lika region of central Croatia. It is located near Gospić, connected by the D25 (Croatia), D25 highway. History During the Genocide of Serbs in the Independent ...

near

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 ...

, Kingdom of Serbs, Croat and Slovenes (modern

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

) to an ethnic Serb family. She finished four grades of elementary school in Gospić, and then moved to

Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; hu, Zimony) is a municipality in the city of Belgrade. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown Belgrade. The developme ...

for another four grades of gymnasium and one year of the economics academy. In 1938 she joined the Communist Youth, and in 1940 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 ...

. When

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

was invaded during

, in June 1941 she joined the

1st Sisak Partisan Detachment The Sisak People's Liberation Partisan Detachment ( sh, Sisački narodnooslobodilački partizanski odred), also known as the 1st Sisak Partisan Detachment (''1. Sisački partizanski odred''), was the first Partisan armed anti-fascist resistance un ...

, the first

unit in Croatia. The same year, the Ustaša police arrested her in

Sisak Sisak (; hu, Sziszek ; also known by other alternative names) is a city in central Croatia, spanning the confluence of the Kupa, Sava and Odra rivers, southeast of the Croatian capital Zagreb, and is usually considered to be where the Posavin ...

, but as they transferred her to the prison 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 ...

, she swallowed poison in order to avoid interrogation. It did not kill her, but she was soon rescued by the Zagreb cell of the

Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...

, and transferred to the Partisan-controlled areas of

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 ...

. When she recovered from the poisoning, she went to

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. According to the 2011 census, its population was 55,705. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located on the Zagreb- Rijeka highway and railway line, south-west of Zagre ...

where she worked as an undercover agent for the Partisans. She was eventually caught by the

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

who surrendered her to the Ustaša police on 3 December 1941, who then tortured her. She refused to give them any information, and was sent to the

Stara Gradiška concentration camp Stara Gradiška was a concentration and extermination camp in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War II. The camp was specially constructed for women and children of Serb, Jewish and Romani ethnicity. Victims also included commun ...

in February 1942. She was murdered there a month later, aged 18.

Legacy

She was awarded the title of

, posthumously, after the war (on 7 July 1951). A (now defunct) textile factory in Zagreb was named after her.

References

Sources

* Tétreault, Mary Ann, ''Women and revolution in Africa, Asia, and the New World'', 1994 () {{DEFAULTSORT:Dimic, Nada 1923 births 1942 deaths People from Gospić Serbs of Croatia Women in the Yugoslav Partisans Yugoslav communists Yugoslav Partisans members Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero People who died in Stara Gradiška concentration camp People executed by the Independent State of Croatia