Review article
HOW HAS BOKA KOTORSKA BECOME PART OF MONTENEGRO: THE CASE OF OSLAV SMODLAKA
Ankica Pečarić
; Croatian Information Centre, Zagreb, Croatia
Josip Pečarić
; Faculty of Textile Technology, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Already during the existence of first Yugoslavia, there occurred the secession of Boka Kotorska from Dalmatia, i. e. Croatia. During the entire World War II, the expression Montenegro and Boka Kotorska was in use, but towards the end of war the Boka Kotorska was simply dropped from the syntagma. This was accompanied by all sorts of pressures on Croatian populace there. There are numerous cases of imprisonment's and murders Croats from Boka at the end of war and during the immediate years after. The fate of Oslav Smodlaka, a photographer from Tivat, best illustrates the difficulties that Croats experienced there. Smodlaka was recognized by historiography as a Croat assassinated at the end of war. Actually, he was killed in 1949. Simply because he refused to relocate, he was declared state enemy, tortured to the point of turning gray in one single night, and finally killed. He left a spouse and an elevenmonth daughter. The fate of O. Smodlaka served as a disciplining measure for the rest of Croats in Boka, who lived under a permanent fear and oppression.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
214457
URI
Publication date:
4.8.1998.
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