Ivan Szabljak ( Croat. Ivan Sabljak ; June 21, 1919 , Rakovica - October 1944 , Jasenovac ) - Yugoslav Croatian shoemaker, partisan of the People’s Liberation War , People’s Hero of Yugoslavia.
| Ivan Szablyak | |
|---|---|
| Hor. Ivan Sabljak | |
| Date of Birth | June 21, 1919 |
| Place of Birth |  Rakovica , the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes |
| Date of death | 1944 |
| Place of death |  Jasenovac , Independent State of Croatia |
| Citizenship | Kingdom of Yugoslavia |
| Occupation | shoe master, partisan |
| Awards and prizes |
|
Biography
Born June 21, 1919 in Rakovica. By profession he was a shoemaker, he lived in Zagreb. In 1938 he joined the United Workers' Union Union, engaged in political activities among working youth. In 1940 he was accepted to the KPU.
After the occupation of the country and the proclamation of the Independent State of Croatia, he became one of the organizers of the Resistance in Zagreb and was elected to the local district committee of the Union of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia. On August 5, 1941, he was arrested by Ustash agents and sent to the concentration camp Jasenovac, where he was able to establish contacts with other prisoners. In January 1942, he was transferred to the Stara Gradiška concentration camp, where he was elected secretary of the cell in the camp. Several times he was transferred to solitary confinement.
As a prisoner, Sabljak established contact with Kozarsky partisan detachment, with whose leadership he agreed to storm the camp and free the prisoners. He assumed responsibility for the preparation of the uprising, but in the summer of 1944 the Ustash Inspection Service disclosed the plan. Under torture, Ivan refused to extradite his accomplices, and as a result in October 1944 he was sent to execution. But even before the sentence was pronounced, Ivan tried to escape and was shot dead on the spot.
Posthumously awarded the title and Order of the National Hero of Yugoslavia (decree of July 24, 1953 ).
Literature
The people of Narodni are heroes of Angola . - Beograd: Mladost, 1975.