Lazar Bačić ( sr-cyr, Лазар Бачић; January 1865 – 12 May 1941) was a

Croatian Serb The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Хрватски Срби, Hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in ...

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

. Ustashas used his property and industrial facilities to open the Ciglana part of the

Jasenovac concentration camp Jasenovac () was a concentration camp, concentration and extermination camp established in the Jasenovac, Sisak-Moslavina County, village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in occupied Yugoslavia durin ...

. He was a prominent benefactor of

Privrednik Srpsko privredno društvo "Privrednik" ( sr-cyr, Српско привредно друштво "Привредник"; ), commonly referred to as Privrednik, is an organization of the Serbs in Croatia, Serb minority in Croatia, which is aimed ...

Biography

Bačić was engaged in

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

and owned several stores 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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

and Jasenovac, as well as a brickyard. He was one of the founders of the

Serbian Bank in Zagreb The Serbian Bank in Zagreb () was a medium-sized bank in the Kingdom of Hungary and then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, established in 1895 and liquidated in 1945. It has been described as "the financial center of the Serbian irredentist movement" ...

, a longtime president of the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...

Administration in Jasenovac, a member of the Board of Directors of the Pakrac Savings Bank in

Pakrac Pakrac is a town in western Slavonia, Croatia, population 4,842, total municipality population 8,460 (census 2011). Pakrac is located on the road and railroad connecting the regions of Posavina and Podravina. Name In Croatian the town is known ...

and the Serbian

co-operation Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English and, with a varied usage along time, coöperation) takes place when a group of organisms works or acts together for a collective benefit to the group as opposed to working in competition ...

for promotion and savings in

Okučani Okučani is a village and municipal centre in Brod-Posavina, western Slavonia, Croatia. It is located 19 km southeast of Novska and 17 km west of Nova Gradiška.Kostajnica and the Serbian Savings Bank as a cooperative in

Nova Gradiška Nova Gradiška is a town located in the Brod-Posavina County of Croatia, population 14,229 (2011). It is located in the historic region of Slavonia, near the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first word in the name means ''New'', and there' ...

High treason accusation

As a member of the Central Committee of the

Serb Independent Party Serb Independent Party ( sr-Latn, Srpska samostalna stranka, SSS, ), also known as Serb Autonomous Party or simply Serb Autonomists, was an ethnic Serb political party in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, under the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was e ...

, in 1909 Bačić was one of 53 Serbs accused by the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy of high treason – conspiracy to overthrow the state and place Croatia-Slavonia under Serbian rule. He spent 16 months in a prison. After that he was tagged as a suspicious person, especially during the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Privrednik

Bačić was a member of the

's Patronage at the time of his establishment in 1911 and one of its greatest philanthropists. Each year, on the

Lazarus Saturday Lazarus Saturday in Eastern Christianity (consisting of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic Churches) refers to the moveable feast before Palm Sunda ...

, he donated ten thousand

Yugoslav dinar The dinar ( sh-Cyrl, динар) was the currency of Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1920 in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which was replaced by the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Th ...

s to Privrednik. In addition to his regular cash payments, in 1921, he handed over a luxurious two-storey building with a shop at the corner of the Gaj Street and the Berislavić Street in the center of Zagreb, as well as hundred thousand dinars.

Death

Bačić died in his apartment in Zagreb on 12 May 1941 and was buried at the

Mirogoj Cemetery The Mirogoj City Cemetery (, ), also known as Mirogoj Cemetery (), is a cemetery park that is considered to be among the more noteworthy landmarks in the city of Zagreb. The cemetery inters members of all religious groups: Catholic, Orthodox, M ...

on 14 May. His property in Jasenovac was confiscated by Ustasha Militia and used its industrial facilities to open the Ciglana part of the

, which existed there until 23 April 1945.

Sedlar controversy

Croatian filmmaker

Jakov Sedlar Jakov Sedlar (born 6 November 1952) is a Croatian film director and Film producer, producer. A former cultural attaché during the 1990s in the Franjo Tuđman government, his documentaries promote Croatian nationalism, Croatian nationalist views t ...

in his 2016 documentary film '' Jasenovac – istina'' accused Bačić for the pre-war murders of

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

in Jasenovac and stated that he and his son Ozren had fled to

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

where they supported the

Milan Nedić Milan Nedić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Недић; 2 September 1878 – 4 February 1946) was a Yugoslav and Serbian army general and politician who served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Royal Yugoslav Army and minister of war in the ...

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

. Ljubica Bačić, a daughter of Ozren Bačić, rejected this accusations and confirmed that Ozren was his nephew and that he died in Zagreb.

Personal life

He had a brother, Jovan, who was a merchant also. He married Dragica Miković, with whom he had no children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacic, Lazar 1865 births 1941 deaths Serbian Austro-Hungarians Croatian philanthropists Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Cooperative organizers Serbian merchants Serbian philanthropists Serbs of Croatia People from Jasenovac, Sisak-Moslavina County Businesspeople from Austria-Hungary