Veljko Babic

Veljko Babić (born November 8, 1910 in Kopjenica, Ključ , Austria-Hungary ; † February 25, 1997 in Pančevo , Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ) was a Yugoslav priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church and a victim of National Socialism .

Life

Veljko Babić grew up as one of eight children in his birthplace Kopjenica, near Ključ in Bosnia-Herzegovina . He studied theology in Bitola , Macedonia , and then became a Serbian Orthodox priest in Banja Luka . Among other things, he was involved in the establishment of the Assumption Church . After the occupation of Yugoslavia and the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia , a vassal state of the Axis powers , Babić fled to Laktaši . However, he and his family were picked up by the Ustasha and taken to a camp near Caprag near Sisak . They were then driven to Serbia. There Babić lived as a priest in Donja Bela Reka and supported the resistance group of the communist youth ( Skojevci ) there. When he expressed disrespect at the funeral of 14 villagers who were killed by a German unit in an act of revenge (“ You cannot kill our freedom with this murder ”), the Nazis targeted him.

On August 20, 1943, during a renewed attack on the village, which was preceded by the murder of a German soldier by partisans, Babić was arrested and initially taken to prison in Bor. His wife and seven-year-old son were murdered while he was in detention. Babić himself was first taken to the Banjica concentration camp and transferred to Mauthausen on November 5, 1943 . On November 19, 1944, he was sent to the Dachau concentration camp . There he was forced to do criminal service in the crematorium. Although he and fellow prisoners hid a Jewish prisoner and this was discovered, he survived the torture of the concentration camp and was liberated by US troops on April 29, 1945.

After he was nursed back to health in a military hospital, he was given an ecclesiastical office in Strpci near Prnjavor . A year later he resigned and worked as a clerk for the community. He later settled in Derventa with his second wife and worked there as mayor until his retirement.

In 1991, at the beginning of the Bosnian War , he had to flee to Serbia for the second time, where he spent his old age. He died on February 25, 1997 in Pančevo .

literature

• Veljko Babic . In: Irmgard Aschbauer, Andreas Baumgartner, Isabella Girstmair (eds.): Freedom is in fact alone. Resistance to National Socialism for religious reasons. Biographies and contributions to the 2009 International Symposium . Edition Mauthausen, Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-902605-17-7 , p. 21st f .