Editing Blessed Martyrs of Drina

{{short description|20th-century Catholic nuns and martyrs}}

{{Infobox saint
|name= Blessed Martyrs of Drina
|birth_date=
|death_date=
|feast_day= 15 December
|venerated_in=[[Catholic Church]]
|image= Martyrs of Drina.jpg
|imagesize=250px
|caption= Painting of the Holy Martyrs of Drina, with the [[Holy Spirit (Christianity)|Holy Ghost]] above them. 
|birth_place= [[Austria-Hungary]]
|death_place=[[Goražde]], [[Independent State of Croatia]]
|titles= [[Martyrs]]
|beatified_date=24 September 2011
|beatified_place=[[Sarajevo]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
|beatified_by=[[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Angelo Amato]] (on behalf of [[Pope Benedict XVI]])
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=[[Dove]]<br/>[[Martyr's palm]]<br/>[[Religious habit]]
|patronage=Nuns, the [[illness|sick]], [[Slovenia]], [[Croatia]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] [[Hungary]], [[Austria]]
|major_shrine=[[Drina]] River, by the town of Goražde
}}

The '''Blessed Martyrs of [[Drina River|Drina]]''' ({{lang-hr|Drinske mučenice}}) are the professed [[Nun|Sisters]] of the [[Church (congregation)|Congregation]] of the [[Daughters of Divine Charity]], who died during [[World War II]]. Four were killed when they jumped out of a window in [[Goražde]] on 15 December 1941, reportedly to avoid being raped by [[Chetniks]], and the last was killed by the Chetniks in [[Sjetlina]] the following week. The five nuns were later declared [[martyr]]s and beatified by Pope Benedict XVI (delegated to [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Angelo Amato]]) on 24 September 2011.

==History==
===Background===
{{undue|section}}
On 6 April 1941, [[Axis powers|Axis]] forces [[Invasion of Yugoslavia|invaded]] the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]]. Poorly equipped and poorly trained, the [[Royal Yugoslav Army]] was quickly defeated. The country was then dismembered. The extreme [[Croatian nationalism|Croatian nationalist]] and [[Fascism|fascist]] [[Ante Pavelić]], who had been in exile in [[Benito Mussolini]]'s [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Italy]], was appointed ''[[Poglavnik]]'' (leader) of an [[Ustaše|Ustasha]]-led Croatian state – the [[Independent State of Croatia]] ({{lang-hr|Nezavisna Država Hrvatska}}, NDH).{{sfn|Goldstein|1999|p=133}} The NDH combined almost all of modern-day [[Croatia]], all of modern-day [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] and parts of modern-day [[Serbia]] into an "Italian-German quasi-protectorate."{{sfn|Tomasevich|2001|p=272}} NDH authorities, led by the [[Ustaše Militia|Ustasha Militia]],{{sfn|Tomasevich|2001|pp=397–409}} subsequently implemented genocidal policies [[Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia|against the Serb]], [[The Holocaust in the Independent State of Croatia|Jewish]] and [[Genocide of Romani people in the Independent State of Croatia|Romani]] populations living within the borders of the new state.{{sfn|Hoare|2007|pp=20–24}}

Ethnic [[Serbs]] were persecuted the most because Pavelić and the Ustashas considered them "potential turncoats" in what they wanted to be an ethnically pure state composed solely of [[Croats]].{{sfn|Cox|2007|p=224}} [[Racism|Racist]], [[Anti-Serb sentiment|anti-Serbian]], and [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] laws were passed,{{sfn|Midlarsky|2005|p=224}} and ethnic Serbs, representing about 30 percent of the NDH's population of 6.3 million,{{sfn|Tanner|2001|p=150}} became targets of large-scale massacres perpetrated by the Ustashas.

By mid-1941, these killings reached degrees of brutality that shocked even some [[Germans]].{{sfn|Mojzes|2009|p=159}}{{sfn|Israeli|2013|p=79}} The [[Serbian Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic]] script was subsequently banned by Croatian authorities, [[Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia|Orthodox Christian]] church schools were closed, and Serbs were ordered to wear identifying armbands. [[Mile Budak]], the Croatian [[Ministry of Science and Education (Croatia)|Minister of Education]], is reported to have said that one-third of Serbs in the NDH were to be killed, one-third were to be expelled, and one-third were to be converted to [[Catholic Church in Croatia|Roman Catholicism]].{{sfn|Judah|2000|p=126}} The Ustashas also established numerous [[Concentration camps in the Independent State of Croatia|concentration camps]] where thousands of Serbs were mistreated, starved, and murdered.{{sfn|Tomasevich|2001|pp=398–399}} Two resistance movements emerged to combat the NDH and the Axis occupiers—the royalist Serb [[Chetniks]], led by [[Colonel]] [[Draža Mihailović]], and the multi-ethnic, [[League of Communists of Yugoslavia|communist]] [[Yugoslav Partisans]], led by [[Josip Broz Tito]].{{sfn|Ramet|2006|p=4}}

[[Jezdimir Dangić]] was a [[gendarmerie]] officer prior to the outbreak of [[World War II]]. In 1940, he was appointed to lead the gendarmerie detachment in the Yugoslav [[Royal Palace (Belgrade)|royal palace]].{{sfn|Dizdar|Sobolevski|1999|p=244}} During the invasion of Yugoslavia, he was responsible for escorting [[King of Yugoslavia|King]] [[Peter II of Yugoslavia|Peter II]] to [[Nikšić Airport]] as he left the country.{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2008|p=59}} Dangić then returned to [[Belgrade]] and was in the city when it was [[Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia|occupied by the Germans]].{{sfn|Milazzo|1975|p=62}} He obeyed the summons of [[Milan Aćimović]], head of the [[Commissioner Government|first Serbian puppet government]], to serve in the gendarmerie of the Serbian quisling state and did so until mid-August.{{sfn|Hoare|2006|p=113}}

When news reached him of the Ustasha massacres of [[Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Serbs]] in [[Bosnia (region)|Bosnia]], he sought permission to travel there and escort his family and relatives to safety. In the summer his request was approved, and he travelled via Mihailović's headquarters at [[Ravna Gora (highland)|Ravna Gora]].{{sfn|Milazzo|1975|p=62}} Early on, Mihailović designated Dangić as one of three men who were to succeed him as leaders of the [[Chetniks|Chetnik movement]] in the event of his death or capture.{{sfn|Tomasevich|1975|p=126}} Like Mihailović, Dangić sought to avoid conflict with the Germans and began to pursue a policy of "self-defence against the Ustashas and revenge against the Croats and [[Muslims (ethnic group)|Muslims]]".{{sfn|Redžić|2005|p=134}}

In August 1941, Dangić was sent by Mihailović to eastern Bosnia to take command of the Chetnik detachments in the region and bring them under Mihailović's control.{{sfn|Tomasevich|1975|p=157}} He collected a group of Bosnian Serbs and crossed the [[Drina]] River into the NDH, arriving in eastern [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]] on 16 August.{{sfn|Dedijer|Miletić|1990|p=86}} In the beginning, his operations were directed primarily against the Ustashas and the Bosnian Muslim population of the area.{{sfn|Tomasevich|1975|p=157}} By early September, Dangić had established himself as the leader of all Chetnik groups in eastern Bosnia.{{sfn|Milazzo|1975|p=62}}

===Capture of Goražde===
In late November 1941, Major [[Boško Todorović]] reached an agreement with Lieutenant-Colonel Castagnieri, commander of the Italian garrison in [[Goražde]], regarding the Italian evacuation and hand-over of the town to the Chetniks.{{sfn|Redžić|2005|p=139}} On 29 November 1941, the Italians placed Goražde under the control of Dangić's men.{{sfn|Hoare|2006|p=145}} The town was under complete Chetnik control by 1 December. Upon arrival, Dangić gave a speech to a group of Serbs, [[Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Croats]] and [[Bosniaks|Bosnian Muslims]] gathered in the town's main square which contained references to [[Greater Serbia]] and ended with Dangić proclaiming that Serbs and Bosnian Muslims could no longer live together. Following the speech, Chetnik bands spread through the town and began killing, raping, pillaging and torching homes. A significant number of victims were killed on a bridge over the Drina, after which their bodies were dropped into the river.{{sfn|Dulić|2010|pp=86–87}}

[[Croatian Home Guard (World War II)|Croatian Home Guard]] prisoners and NDH officials were immediately executed. Corpses of Muslim civilians were left hanging from trees and lamp-posts. As many as several hundred civilians may have been killed in the massacre.{{sfn|Hoare|2006|p=145}} Chetnik forces in Bosnia, including those of Dangić, then set about pursuing an [[Islamophobia|anti-Muslim]] campaign through eastern Bosnia to recompense for the persecution experienced by ethnic Serbs in the NDH.{{sfn|Banac|1996|p=143}}

===Martyrdom===
Dangić's Chetniks entered the town of [[Pale, Bosnia and Herzegovina|Pale]] on 11 December.{{sfn|Žanić|2007|p=274}} They looted and burnt down the local Roman Catholic [[convent]], Marijin dom, and captured its five nuns (two [[Slovenes|Slovene]], one Croat, one [[Hungarians|Hungarian]], and one [[Austrians|Austrian]]). The five were Jula Ivanišević (<abbr title="born">b.</abbr> 1893), Berchmana Leidenix (<abbr title="born">b.</abbr> 1865), Krizina Bojanc (<abbr title="born">b.</abbr> 1885), Antonija Fabjan (<abbr title="born">b.</abbr> 1907) and Bernadeta Banja (Bernadett Bánya) (<abbr title="born">b.</abbr> 1912). That evening, the nuns and some other prisoners were forced to march across the [[Romanija]] mountain range in freezing temperatures and waist-deep snow. The five were mocked, insulted and threatened by their captors as they marched. While passing through the village of [[Sjetlina]], 76-year-old sister Leidenix became exhausted. She was separated from the group and forced to remain behind.<ref name="Glas">{{cite web|publisher=Glas koncila|title=Drinske mučenice|url=http://www.glas-koncila.hr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=328&Itemid=284|date=13 January 2011|access-date=29 August 2014}}</ref>

The four remaining nuns were taken to Goražde on 15 December and detained on the third floor of a former Royal Yugoslav Army barracks upon arrival.<ref name="Bunjevac">{{cite web|publisher=Glas koncila|title=Godina 1941. u Goraždu, na rijeci Drini...|author=Stipan Bunjevac|url=http://www.glas-koncila.hr/index.php?option=com_php&Itemid=41&news_ID=18984|date=9 April 2011|access-date=29 August 2014}}</ref> That evening, a group of Chetniks entered the room in which they were being held and attempted to rape them. The four then committed suicide, jumping from the second-floor window to avoid being raped.{{sfn|Žanić|2007|p=274}} Some sources {{who?}} hold that all four survived their suicide attempts and were bayoneted to death by several infuriated Chetnik officers.{{cn}} In any case, the bodies were taken from the barracks and thrown into the Drina River. Sister Leidenix was taken to a forest near Sjetlina by several Chetniks on 23 December, having been told that she would soon be taken to Goražde to be reunited with the other nuns. She was never seen again. One of the Chetniks who emerged from the forest without her was later seen wearing her [[rosary]] around his neck.<ref name="Bunjevac"/>

===Aftermath and legacy===
[[File:Jezdimir Dangic trial.jpg|thumbnail|right|Jezdimir Dangić at trial]]
News of the deaths quickly spread throughout the NDH.<ref name="Glas"/> In April 1942, Dangić was arrested by the Germans and taken to a [[prisoner-of-war camp]] in [[German-occupied Poland]].{{sfn|Tomasevich|1975|p=208}} He escaped from prison in 1943{{sfn|Dedijer|Miletić|1990|p=86}} and participated in the [[Warsaw Uprising]] against the Germans the following year.{{sfn|Colić|1973|p=335}}

Dangić was captured by the [[Red Army]] in 1945 and extradited to [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]'s new communist authorities,{{sfn|Miletić|1976|p=121}} who charged him with [[Chetnik war crimes in World War II|war crimes]]. He was tried, found guilty by a court in [[Sarajevo]] and sentenced to death.{{sfn|Tomasevich|1975|p=208}} He was [[Execution by firing squad|executed by firing squad]] on 22 August 1947.{{sfn|Miletić|1976|p=121}}

The five nuns were declared [[martyr]]s, On 14 January 2011, [[Pope Benedict XVI]] announced the promulgation of decrees of the [[Congregation for the Causes of Saints]]. The nuns were [[Beatification|beatified]] at a ceremony presided over by [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal]] [[Angelo Amato]] in Sarajevo on 24 September 2011.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Večernji list|title=Drinske mučenice proglašene blaženim|url=http://www.vecernji.ba/drinske-mucenice-proglasene-blazenim-329937|date=24 September 2011|access-date=29 August 2014}}</ref>

A non-fiction book about the nuns was written by Croatian author Anto Baković, titled ''Drinske mučenice'' (''Drina Martyrs''; Sarajevo, 1990).<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --> Sister Slavica Buljan, a Bosnian-Croatian nun, writer and poet, wrote ''Zavjet krvlju potpisan'' (''Vow Signed With Blood''; [[Zagreb]], 2010).<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --><ref name="Bunjevac"/>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|20em}}

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{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* Franc Ksaver Meško: ''Izbrano delo I-VI'' Mohorjeva družba v Celju (1954–1960)
* Anto Baković: ''Drinske mučenice, Vlastita svjedočanstva, Svjedočanstva očividaca, Dokumenti,'' Anto Baković, Sarajevo 1990.

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{Subject bar |portal1= Catholicism |portal2= Saints}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blessed Martyrs of Drina}}
[[Category:1941 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Roman Catholic martyrs]]
[[Category:Beatifications by Pope Benedict XVI]]
[[Category:Chetnik war crimes in World War II]]
[[Category:Austrian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns]]
[[Category:Croatian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns]]
[[Category:Hungarian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns]]
[[Category:Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
[[Category:1941 in Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
[[Category:Martyred groups]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vrhbosna]]
[[Category:World War II crimes in Yugoslavia]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Goražde]]