Svetozar Đanić (; 1 April 1917 – 18 June 1941) was a Croatian and Yugoslav footballer who played for

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and Croatia national teams. He was also known as Milan or Cveta.

Club career

Born during the latter part of

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 ...

in a small

Syrmia Syrmia (Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is div ...

n village, Đanić started playing football with

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

outfit FK Slavija. At the age of 17, he moved to their more established crosstown rivals

FK Vojvodina Fudbalski klub Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Војводина), commonly known as Vojvodina and colloquially as Voša ( sr-Cyrl, Воша), is a Serbian professional football club based in Novi Sad, Serbia, the second large ...

and immediately established himself in the first team. Two years later, in 1936, together with brother Miran, he moved 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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

in pursuit of university studies. Parallel to studies he also played football with HŠK Građanski, spending the 1936–37 season with them. Đanić's studies then took him to

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

for a year where he also played one season for

SK Židenice FC Zbrojovka Brno is a professional football club based in the city of Brno, South Moravian Region, Czech Republic and named after Zbrojovka Brno, a firearms manufacturer. Founded in 1913 as SK Židenice, the club later became known as Zbrojovka ...

(5 league starts, 3 goals during 1937–38 season) and one season for SK Viktoria Plzeň (1938–39).

International career

Returning to Zagreb, he also continued playing for Građanski, eventually earning a callup to the Yugoslavia national team in 1940. His debut came on 3 November 1940 versus

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in Zagreb. He would only play in three matches before 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 ...

invasion and quick dismemberment of Yugoslavia put an end to Yugoslav football activities. Đanić's last match in Yugoslavia jersey was also Yugoslavia's last outing–a match versus

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

on 23 March 1941 in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. Soon after the

Royal Yugoslav Army The Yugoslav Army ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslovenska vojska, JV, Југословенска војска, ЈВ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Army, was the principal Army, ground force of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It existed from the establishment of ...

defeat, and the establishment of Croatian Nazi-puppet state (NDH) under

collaborationist Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime. As historian Gerhard Hirschfeld says, it "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to the 19th ...

Ustasha regime, Đanić played first game for NDH national team in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

on 15 June 1941 versus Nazi Germany. Upon returning to Zagreb, he was immediately put on trial by the Ustashas under the accusation that he collaborated with the

communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

. After a quick

show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the guilt (law), guilt or innocence of the defendant has already been determined. The purpose of holding a show trial is to present both accusation and verdict to the public, serving as an example and a d ...

, Đanić was executed three days later on 18 June 1941.

References

External links

*, ''Jutarnji list'', 7 April 2006 *
archive
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Danic, Svetozar 1917 births 1941 deaths Footballers from Sremska Mitrovica Serbs of Croatia Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's international footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) FK Vojvodina players HŠK Građanski Zagreb players FC Zbrojovka Brno players FC Viktoria Plzeň players Yugoslav First League players Czech National Football League players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Czechoslovakia Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Czechoslovakia Serbian civilians killed in World War II People executed by the Independent State of Croatia