Petar Zimonjić ( sr-cyr, Петар Зимоњић; 24 June 1866 – June 1941) was a bishop 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 ...

serving as the metropolitan of Dabar-Bosnia in the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

from 1920 until the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was killed by

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionar ...

of the

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

aligned ''Aligned'' is a 2023 drama film written and directed by Apollo Bakopoulos. The film had its world premiere at the Brooklyn Film Festival The Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF), prior to 2011 called the Brooklyn International Film Festival (BiFF) is a ...

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

in June 1941. The

venerates him as a Saint.

Life

The future Metropolitan Petar was the son of a nobleman ('' vojvoda'') and priest

Bogdan Zimonjić Bogdan Zimonjić, ( sr-cyr, Богдан Зимоњић; 1813 – 21 January 1909) was a Serbian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox priest and Voivode, Vojvoda (military commander) in two major uprisings against the Ottoman Empire in 19th-centu ...

from the region of

Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical Regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia (reg ...

. He was born in Grahovo on 24 June 1866. He attended the seminary in Reljevo (in neighboring Sarajevo) between 1883 and 1887 and continued his education at the Orthodox Theological Faculty in Cernovice from 1887 until his graduation in 1893. In October 1893, Petar was appointed assistant professor at the Reljevo Seminary, and a year later he was appointed professor. He received the name Petar when he took monastic vows on 6 September 1895. He was ordained deacon on 7 September and presbyter the following day. He became a consistorial advisor in Sarajevo in 1901. He was then elected the Bishop of the

Eparchy of Zahumlje and Herzegovina The Eparchy of Zahumlje, Herzegovina and the Littoral () is an eparchy (diocese) of the Serbian Orthodox Church with its seat in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has jurisdiction over the region of Herzegovina, the littoral region of southern D ...

and then on 9 June 1903, Petar was consecrated and enthroned in

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

. After the retirement of the Metropolitan of Dabar-Bosna Evgenije (Letica), Petar was appointed Metropolitan of the diocese by a royal charter dated 7 November 1920.

Martyrdom

After World War II had broken out, Metropolitan Petar was advised to leave Bosnia and move 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 ...

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

. He replied saying: “I am the people's shepherd, which means that I am bound to stay here and share evil with these people, as I used to share well with them; thus I have to share the destiny of my people and stay where I am supposed to be". He defended consistently the Orthodox faith in front of German Gestapo by insisting on continuing use of the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet instead of changing to the Latin alphabet. A Roman Catholic priest, Božidar Bralo, an adherent of the Croatian

in charge of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, had a decisive role in this severe policy of forbidding the use of the Cyrillic alphabet, including the arrest of Metropolitan Petar. Metropolitan Petar was arrested on 12 May 1941. He was imprisoned first in the Beledija prison, and then three days later he was transported to the Kerestinec camp where he was assigned the number 29781. There, his beard and hair were shaved and all his bishop's insignia were taken away from him. The circumstances of his death are inconsistent. After enduring severe

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

, he was moved to

Koprivnica Koprivnica () is a city in Northern Croatia, located 70 kilometers northeast of Zagreb. It is the capital and the largest city of Koprivnica-Križevci County. In 2011, the city's administrative area of 90.94 km2 had a total populati ...

and then to either Jasenovac or Gospić concentration camp. According to the testimonies of Jovo Furtula and Jovo Lubura from the Sarajevo District, Metropolitan Petar was killed in 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 ...

. His corpse was then thrown to the fiery furnace used for brick making. However, another version states that Metropolitan Petar was taken to the

Jadovno concentration camp The Jadovno concentration camp was a concentration and extermination camp in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War II. Commanded by a member of the Ustaše Militia Juraj Rukavina, it was the first of twenty-six concentration cam ...

, where he was killed in a monstrous manner and his remains were thrown to an acid pit. In 1998, during the regular session of the

Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church () serves by Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Church constitution as the executive body of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Holy Synod consists of five members: four bishops and the List ...

Metropolitan Petar was canonized and his name was added to the list of other saints of the Serbian people and of Orthodox Christian faith. The Serbian Church marks the memory of him in the third week of September.

References

Sources

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Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zimonjic, Petar 1866 births 1941 deaths People from Nikšić Bishops of Dabar-Bosnia Bishops of Zahumlje-Herzegovina Serbian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church Persecution of Serbs 20th-century Eastern Orthodox martyrs 20th-century Christian saints New Martyrs Hieromartyrs People executed by the Independent State of Croatia People who died in Jasenovac concentration camp Serb people who died in the Holocaust Serbian torture victims Serbian civilians killed in World War II Serbian people executed in Nazi concentration camps Yugoslav people executed in Nazi concentration camps

Life

Martyrdom

See also

References

Sources

Footnotes