Sudbine Jevreja u Gračanici tokom Drugog svjetskog rata
The fate of the Jews in Gračanica during the Second World War

Summary/Abstract: This article presents the results of a study of the suffering and fate of the Gračanica Jews during the Second World War in Gračanica. The Jewish community was rather small and suffered heavily under the racist and discriminatory laws of the Ustasha regime. The arrests and deportation of Jews from Gračanica occurred only as late as autumn 1942, in one of the last waves of the persecutions of Jews on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A total of 8 people from local Jewish families were killed during these measures, while few others escaped to the Italian Occupational zone. A second wave of roundups was planned in early 1943. The Jews that were now targeted were health workers (and their families), who had been spared due to their expertise and lack of experienced staff in their field. In the case of Gračanica they avoided arrest, thanks to some people who were close to the authorities, who helped them to move to a Chetnik-controlled area. A specific case is that of Helena Kolman, who was captured and taken into custody in Zagreb while her daughter Nada was saved by the Prohić family. Other cases were noted where Jews were helped, protected and saved by people from Gračanica, mostly by persons of an antifascist political orientation. Another notable case was that of doctor Schmukler and his a family, a key role in his rescue being played by Ustasha logornik Ibrahim Pjanić (who will later provide the protection for the Jewish doctor Jolanda Rausnic, as well). This article is accompanied by a list of Gračanica's Jews, both domicile and those born in Gračanica, including local Jews that lost their lives in other towns.

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