Blago Zadro

Blago Zadro (center) between group commanders Andrija Marić (left) and Marko Babić in front of destroyed armored vehicles of the Yugoslav People's Army in the Trpinja Strait of Vukovar (1991).

Blago Zadro (born March 31, 1944 in Donji Mamići, zu Grude , Independent State of Croatia , † October 16, 1991 in Vukovar , Yugoslavia ) was the commander of the northern Croatian defense troops in the Battle of Vukovar during the Croatian War . Zadro fell in the successful defense against an attack by the Yugoslav People's Army and Serbian irregulars on the Vukovar suburb of Borovo .

Live and act

Zadro was born in the village of Donji Mamići, near Grude in Herzegovina . In 1954 his family moved to Borovo Naselje , a north-eastern industrial district of Vukovar . After completing his school education, he worked in the local combine " Borovo ". With his wife Katica he had sons Robert, Tomislav and Josip.

At the beginning of the conflicts within Yugoslavia, in the early 1990s, Zadro was politically active in the newly founded Croatian party Hrvatska demokratska zajednica and became its vice-president in Vukovar. In this function he later organized, among other things, the defense of the city of Vukovar against the troops of the Yugoslav People's Army and Serbian militants , so-called Chetniks . Zadro became a member of the defense forces and as such commanded the 3rd battalion of the 204th Vukovar Brigade of the Croatian Army . Zadro became legendary through the defense of Trpinjska cesta ( Trpinja Street), which was also known as the “tank cemetery ” ( Groblje tenkova ) because of the many tanks that were incapacitated in the process.

Death and honors

Common grave of Blago Zadro and his son Robert in the new cemetery in Vukovar

Memorial to Blago Zadro (Vukovar, Trpinjska cesta)

Blago Zadro was shot dead in combat by Serbian troops on October 16, 1991 in the Vukovar suburb of Borovo. His body was only found in a mass grave in Borovo in 1998 and buried in the Vukovar military cemetery. He is buried in a communal grave with his son Robert, who died in 1992 as a member of the ATJ Lučko at the Battle of Kupres .

After his death, Zadro was posthumously appointed major general ( general bojnik ). The military school of the headquarters of the Croatian Army today bears his name ( Zapovjedno-stožerna škola "Blago Zadro" ).

Since his deployment, Blago Zadro has been seen as a freedom fighter for an independent Croatia. The former speaker of the Croatian parliament Vladimir Šeks started a speech in February 2008 with the words: "Without people like Blago Zadro there would be no Croatia".

In art

The story of Blago Zadro was themed in the film The trinity of Vukovar (2009).

Awards

personal data
SURNAME	Zadro, Blago
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Commander in the Croatian War
DATE OF BIRTH	March 31, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH	Grude
DATE OF DEATH	October 16, 1991
Place of death	Vukovar