Vera Blagojević (, 16 May 1920 – 18 March 1942) was a Yugoslav medical student and

Communist 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, di ...

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

. During

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 ...

, she was captured by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

in 1942 and later killed. She was posthumously awarded the

Order of the People's Hero 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 1953.

Early life

Vera Blagojević was born on 16 May 1920 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 ...

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 ...

. She was the daughter of lawyer Jovan Blagojević (), who served in the Army during

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 ...

, and housewife Ana Blagojević (). Her father was a Communist supporter. She grew up in

Šabac Šabac ( sr-Cyrl, Шабац, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river ...

. In 1937, Blagojević helped organise a

student strike Campus protest or student protest is a form of student activism that takes the form of protest at university campuses. Such protests encompass a wide range of activities that indicate student dissatisfaction with a given political or academi ...

in protest of the attitudes of some teachers at the school.

Activism

In 1938, she began studying medicine at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

, during which time she joined a revolutionary

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

organisation at the University. In the same year, she joined the

League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia The League of Socialist Youth of Yugoslavia (SSOJ) was the youth movement, member organisation of the Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia (SSRNJ). Membership stood at more than 3.6 million individuals in 1983. It was originally est ...

(SKOJ). She worked for the

League of Communists 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 ...

(KPJ) and SKOJ in Šabac, and in 1940, she became a member of the KPJ's

Podrinje Podrinje ( sr-Cyrl, Подриње) is the Slavic name of the Drina river basin, known in English as the Drina Valley. The Drina basin is shared between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, with majority of its territory being located in Eastern ...

district committee. After the

Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was invaded and swiftly conquered by Axis forces and partitioned among Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and their client regimes. Shortly after Germany attack ...

in 1941, Blagojević attended

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

protests in Belgrade, and after the closure of the University of Belgrade by the Nazis, she taught medicine to KPJ supporting medical students. She transported illegal KPJ material from Belgrade to Šabac, and also worked for the (NOP), where she worked mainly with female Communists, encouraging women to join the workforce. In June 1941, Blagojević was included on a Šabac police list of 30 most active Communists in the city. Fearing for her safety, Blagojević escaped Šabac and went to Leshnicë e Poshtme. In November 1941, the KPJ sent her to the Jadar region.

Arrests and death

In November 1941, the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

, which included the KPJ, were attacked by the

Chetniks The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...

, who were loyal to

Yugoslav government-in-exile The Government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in Exile ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Vlada Kraljevine Jugoslavije u egzilu, Влада Краљевине Југославије у егзилу) was an official government-in-exile of Yugoslavia, headed by King ...

. 18 partisans were captured including Blagojević. They were later released, and Blagojević went to

Stolice Stolice ( sr-Cyrl, Столице) is a part of the village Brštica near Krupanj in Serbia. It became known in history as the place where the military-political advising executives of the National liberation movement of Yugoslavia held their ses ...

. Blagojević was rearrested by the Chetniks in March 1942 in

Tekeriš Tekeriš () is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Loznica municipality, in the Mačva District. This village has a Serbian ethnic majority and its population numbers 370 people, according to the 2002 census. History Tekeriš is famous bec ...

. She was transferred to a camp in

Senjak Senjak ( sr-Cyrl, Сењак, ) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia. Located in Savski Venac, one of the three municipalities that constitute the very center of the city, it is an affluent neighborhood containing emba ...

in the outskirts of Belgrade, and was placed in the first barracks, which were designated for those likely to be shot. After refusing to give information, she and 62 others were shot dead on 18 March 1942.

Legacy

In July 1953, Blagojević was posthumously awarded the

by then

President of Yugoslavia The president of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the head of state of that country from 14 January 1953 to 4 May 1980. Josip Broz Tito was the only person to occupy the office. Tito was also concurrently President of the League ...

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blagojevic, Vera 1920 births 1942 deaths Communists executed by Nazi Germany Politicians from Šabac People executed by Nazi Germany by firing squad Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero Serbian communists Serbian people executed by Nazi Germany Women in the Yugoslav Partisans Yugoslav Partisans members