Stjepan Filipović (27 January 1916 – 22 May 1942) was a Yugoslav communist who led the Kolubara Company of the Valjevo Partisan Detachment during the 1941
Partisan uprising.
He was captured and executed in 1942 in
Valjevo
Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 56,145 while the city admini ...
. A photo of him taken shortly before his execution became a symbol of resistance against
fascism
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
in the Second World War, and was, among others, exhibited in the
United Nations building in New York.
He was proclaimed
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; , ), was a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav gallantry medal, the ...
in 1949.
Biography

Stjepan Filipović was born on 27 January 1916 in
Opuzen (modern-day
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
) as the fifth child of Anton and Ivka Filipović. He was an ethnic
Croat
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 ...
.
The Filipović family moved throughout 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 ...
, so he lived in
Županja
Županja (, , ) is a town in eastern Slavonia, Croatia, located 254 km east of Zagreb. It is administratively part of the Vukovar-Syrmia County. It is inhabited by 12,090 people (2011).
Županja lies on the Sava river opposite Bosnia and He ...
,
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 ...
and
Kragujevac
Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the List of cities in Serbia, fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Se ...
. In Kragujevac, he studied locksmithing and mastered the basics of electrical wiring, carpentry and bookbinding. He joined the labour movement in 1937, but he was arrested in 1939 and sentenced to a year in prison. He joined the
Communist Party of Yugoslavia
The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats a ...
in 1940.
Death
When
World War II in Yugoslavia
World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was Invasion of Yugoslavia, invaded and swiftly conquered by Axis powers, Axis forces and partitioned among Nazi Germany, Germany, Fascist Italy (1922–1943), It ...
started, the Partisans organized a Tamnava-Kolubara unit in
Valjevo
Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 56,145 while the city admini ...
(modern-day
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 ...
) in 1941, and
Filipović became its commander. He was captured on 24 December 1941 by the
Chetniks of Kosta Pećanac.
On 22 May 1942, aged 26, Filipović was hanged in Valjevo by a
Serbian State Guard unit. As the rope was put around his neck, Filipović raised his arms and shouted ("
Death to fascism, freedom to the people!"). He urged the Yugoslav people to resist and implored them to never cease resisting. A photograph taken at this moment was widely reproduced and became a symbol of anti-fascist resistance. A statue of Filipović was cast in its likeness.
Filipović was declared a National Hero of Yugoslavia on 14 December 1949. The town of Valjevo has a statue dedicated to him, "''Stevan'' Filipović". A monument was also erected in his home town of Opuzen in 1968, but was demolished in 1991.
His brother Å imun was shot by Germans in the
Kragujevac massacre
The Kragujevac massacre was the mass murder of between 2,778 and 2,794 mostly Serb men and boys in Kragujevac, by German soldiers on 21 October 1941. It occurred in the German-occupied territory of Serbia during World War II, and came as a ...
in Serbia; although he was an ethnic
Croat
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 ...
, which could have saved him from death, he refused to say so, sharing his fate with citizens of
Kragujevac
Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the List of cities in Serbia, fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Se ...
. Stjepan's second brother Nikola was killed in May 1943 as a member of the
1st Proletarian Brigade.
References
External links
*
Narodni heroji Jugoslavije', Mladost, Belgrade, 1975.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Filipovic, Stjepan
1916 births
1942 deaths
People from Opuzen
People from the Kingdom of Dalmatia
Yugoslav Partisans members
20th-century Croatian people
Croatian communists
Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero
Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany
Communists executed by Nazi Germany
People executed by Nazi Germany occupation forces
People executed by Nazi Germany by hanging
Croatian people executed by Nazi Germany
People notable for being the subject of a specific photograph