GORNJI VAROŠ
1 Djuro Goleš
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PIVARE
1 Vladimir Sjeverac (persons who died or were proclaimed missing from April 1941 to May 1945) 1 Milan Škrinjarić USKOCI
1 Karlo Mataković 1 Zlatko Obućina |
This list was drawn up and published in the newspaper "Novogradiški glasnik" (Newspaper of Nova Gradiška) in 1991. The list of the victims was published in two issues and was drawn up on the initiative of the inhabitants of these villages who were of great help in gathering the information. Unfortunately, these data have not been checked nor was gathering of the data supervised by experts. They should, therefore, be considered just as a starting point since some of them might not be accurate. In spite of possible errors, I decided to use the list because a new war broke out in the autumn of the same year, so that it became practically impossible to draw up a better one. The inhabitants of these villages had to leave their homes and those who stayed were ill-treated and eventually banished from their homes. It was not until May 1995 that a significant number of villagers were able to return. From September 1991 to May 1995, in the district of Stara Gradiska, including these villages, there were 31 casualties of which 8 were killed in the fighting, nine were murdered and fourteen were severely wounded. These figures were given by the mayor Ante Kičić.
These demographic losses of the Croatian population in these villages have not yet been published and the actual proportions of war and post-war casualties can be best observed by a comparison of the 1917 and 1991 censuses of these villages. The first census gives evidence of the ethnic composition of these villages before the Kingdom of Yugoslavia had been established in 1918. It was then that the depopulation of this area began and this can hardly be explained by usual demographic changes.
The 1917 census according to the scheme of the Zagreb diocese.
According to the 1991 census, these villages numbered 1969 persons. The inhabitants of Pivare village were covered by the same census as the inhabitants of Donji Varoš village.
The demographic losses of the Croatian population in the villages surrounding Stara Gradiška in the last two wars amount to 209 dead, killed and missing. Since they were the biologically active part of the population, the indirect demographic loss is much higher. War, disasters and victims of the War of Independence (1991-1995), only made this situation worse and its actual effects will only be possible to assess when all the refugees have returned to their homes.
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