Robert Domany (also spelled Domani; 16 February 19083 March 1942) was a

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 ...

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 ...

. Domany was born in

Orahovica Orahovica is a town in Slavonia, Croatia. It is situated on the slopes of the mountain Papuk and positioned on the state road D2 Varaždin- Koprivnica- Našice- Osijek. History The name Orahovica is derived from the word ''orah'', meaning ...

on 16 February 1908 to a

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

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. He had a younger brother, Rudolf Domany who also fought with Partisans 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 ...

and who was the husband of Eva Grlić until his death. Before the war, Domany studied at the Technical Faculty 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 the study 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 ...

revolutionary movement. In 1937, Domany 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 ...

. That same year he moved to Spain, to join 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 ...

to fight against

Spanish Nationalists Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

. There he was promoted to the rank of artillery captain in the

Spanish Republican Army The Spanish Republican Army ( es, Ejército de la República Española) was the main branch of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic between 1931 and 1939. It became known as People's Army of the Republic (''Ejército Popular de la Repú ...

and commander of the battery in the second division of heavy artillery "Škoda". During World War II, 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 to Nazi Germany for forced labour in a

Junkers Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded there in Dessau, Germ ...

factory. Soon after, the Gestapo deported him to Braunschweig at

Neuengamme concentration camp Neuengamme was a network of Nazi concentration camps in Northern Germany that consisted of the main camp, Neuengamme, and more than 85 satellite camps. Established in 1938 near the village of Neuengamme in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, th ...

. Via already established channels for the return of Spanish volunteers in the country, Domany managed to escape and returned to

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 ...

, and immediately was involved in the fight against

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

. In August 1941, he helped organize the Partisan units 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 ...

. Soon after he was appointed as the commander of the second Partisan Kordun detachment. With his detachment he was involved in fights for

Slunj Slunj ( Hungarian ''Szluin'', old German ''Sluin'', Latin ''Slovin'', archaic Croatian ''Slovin grad'') is a town in the mountainous part of Central Croatia, located along the important North-South route to the Adriatic Sea between Karlovac and ...

Vojnić Vojnić ( sr-Cyrl, Војнић) is a municipality in Karlovac County, Croatia. There are 4,764 inhabitants, 45% of whom are Serbs and 37% of whom are Croats. The municipality is part of Kordun. Vojnić is underdeveloped municipality which is sta ...

Veljun Veljun is a village in Croatia, under the Slunj township, in Karlovac County Karlovac County ( hr, Karlovačka županija) is a county in central Croatia, with the administrative center in Karlovac. The city of Karlovac is a fort from the time ...

and

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 ...

. At the beginning of 1942, Italian fascists, with help from

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 Domany with fellow fighters

Drago Štajnberger Drago Štajnberger (born Adolf Steinberger; 15 February 19163 March 1942) was a History of the Jews in Croatia, Croatian-Jewish Yugoslav Partisans, Partisan and a People's Hero of Yugoslavia. Štajnberger was born on 15 February 1916 in Zagreb to ...

, Branko Latas, and Stevo Čuturilo. All were killed by the Chetniks and their corpses thrown into the Balinka pit. On 24 July 1953, Domany was declared a

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

. The four men's bodies were found in 1966 by a British caving team after which they were buried in a common grave in

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Domany, Robert 1908 births 1942 deaths People from Orahovica Croatian Sephardi Jews 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 Jewish anti-fascists Jews in the Yugoslav Partisans Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero