КАПЕТАН ЈОВАН ДЕРОК (1912-1941), БИОГРАФИЈА
CAPTAIN JOVAN DEROK (1912‒1941), BIOGRAPHY

Summary/Abstract: The Derok family from Dubrovnik was one of many who moved to Belgrade in the middle of the 19th century and accepted the Serbian cultural and spiritual identity. Captain Jovan Derok, born in France and raised in Slovenia, was also one of those representatives of the Yugoslav elite who did not separate cosmopolitan, civic and national values. From 1941, this officer joined the national (Ravnogorski) movement of resistance in Serbia and participated in all the key events during the uprising against the Germans and, later, the civil war between the national and communist forces. Through the fate of Jovan Derok, the tragic events that took place in the Serbian people during 1941: during the battles near Kraljevo, where still united rebel forces took part, he showed feats, and then reluctantly took part in the upcoming Chetnik and Partisan battles near Čačak. That is when the war legend about him was created. Sources say that Derok was one of the biggest opponents of the civil war in Serbia, but he was captured and killed by communist forces in the first days of the conflict. The legend of Derok was suppressed for decades, only to surface again during the 1990’s and, above all, through a folk song, revive the memory of the tragically killed commander.

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