Andrija Hebrang (father)
Encyclopedia
Andrija Hebrang was a Croatian and Yugoslav Stalinist politician.
(part of Gradina
) to father Andrija Hebrang and mother Cela Strasser. During World War I, he was stationed for a time in Osijek
, Zagreb
, and finally the battlefields in Gorizia
, Italy where he stayed until the end of the war. Not long after in 1919, he joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia
and became heavily involved in socialist political causes. He was arrested in 1924 for his involvement in protests for trade union rights.
. He was in 1929, along with several other communists, arrested in Belgrade
for communist activities, and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and hard labor in Lepoglava
and Sremska Mitrovica
. He was released from prison in February 1941, and when World War II
began in Yugoslavia, he joined the Partisans and becomes the secretary to the Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia.
In 1942 Hebrang was captured by the Ustashe and sent to Stara Gradiska concentration camp
, where he was later exchanged along with his future wife, Olga, for several Ustasha officials. He then traveled to Bihać
to attend the Anti-fascist Council of the National Liberation of Yugoslavia
(AVNOJ). He also helps form the State Antifascist Council of the National Liberation of Croatia (ZAVNOH) and serves as the vice-president. Only two years later he was relieved of his duties due to his aspirations for Croatian autonomy in Yugoslavia. Nevertheless, in 1945 he leads a Yugoslav delegation to the Soviet Union
with Sreten Žujović
, where they secretly affirmed their Stalinist views.
in 1948 Hebrang became Stalin's prime candidate for replacing Tito. Because of that, Hebrang was being blacklisted within the Yugoslav Communist Party, and was subsequently thrown out. By March his phones were tapped, and in April he was placed under house arrest, relieved of all official duties. In May he was accused of collaborating with the Ustashe and the Gestapo
in order to sabotage Yugoslavia
and spy for the Soviets after Tito broke with Joseph Stalin
. He was arrested in Belgrade by UDBA
agents and tried for numerous treasons, while his wife and small children were put under house arrest. Andrija Hebrang disappears under suspicious circumstances; UDBA official Milorad Milatovic who was in charge of the Hebrang case claimed in 1952 that he committed suicide in prison on 11 June 1949, but his body was never recovered and no official death certificate was filed. In the late 1980s, historians Milatovic and Ivankovic-Vonta revealed that Hebrang was assassinated in his Belgrade prison cell for political reasons.
and Branko have been instrumental in trying to rehabilitate their father and return his remains.
Early life
Andrija Hebrang was born in the village of BačevacBacevac
Baćevac is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the municipality of Barajevo.Baćevac is located west of the municipal center of Barajevo, four kilometers east of the major road in western Serbia, Ibarska magistrala and it's a regional crossroad itself.Baćevac...
(part of Gradina
Gradina, Croatia
Gradina is a municipality in Croatia in the Virovitica–Podravina County. It has a population of 4,485 , 85.6% which are Croats. Gradina is the birthplace of Boško Buha, famous Serbian WWII child-hero, member of the Yugoslav Partisans....
) to father Andrija Hebrang and mother Cela Strasser. During World War I, he was stationed for a time in Osijek
Osijek
Osijek is the fourth largest city in Croatia with a population of 83,496 in 2011. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja county...
, Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, and finally the battlefields in Gorizia
Gorizia
Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
, Italy where he stayed until the end of the war. Not long after in 1919, he joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia , before 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Savez komunista Jugoslavije/Савез комуниста Југославије, Slovene: Zveza komunistov Jugoslavije, Macedonian: Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na...
and became heavily involved in socialist political causes. He was arrested in 1924 for his involvement in protests for trade union rights.
Political involvement
By the late 1920s, Hebrang had risen to high ranks in the Communist Party, and was several times arrested and jailed for his various activities. It was during this time that he became acquainted with Josip Broz TitoJosip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
. He was in 1929, along with several other communists, arrested in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
for communist activities, and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and hard labor in Lepoglava
Lepoglava
Lepoglava is a town in Varaždin County, northern Croatia, located southwest of Varaždin, west of Ivanec and northeast of Krapina.A total of 8,271 people in the municipality lives in the following settlements:* Bednjica, population 214...
and Sremska Mitrovica
Sremska Mitrovica
Sremska Mitrovica is a city and municipality located in the Vojvodina province of Serbia, on the left bank of the Sava river. As of 2002 the town had a total population of 39,041, while Sremska Mitrovica municipality had a population of 85,605...
. He was released from prison in February 1941, and when World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
began in Yugoslavia, he joined the Partisans and becomes the secretary to the Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia.
In 1942 Hebrang was captured by the Ustashe and sent to Stara Gradiska concentration camp
Stara Gradiška concentration camp
Stara Gradiška was the most notorious concentration and extermination camp in Croatia during World War II, mainly due to the crimes which were committed against women and children. The camp was specially constructed for women and children of Serb, Jew, and Romani ethnicity...
, where he was later exchanged along with his future wife, Olga, for several Ustasha officials. He then traveled to Bihać
Bihac
Bihać is a city and municipality on the river Una in the north-western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosanska Krajina region. Bihać is located in the Una-Sana Canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.-History:...
to attend the Anti-fascist Council of the National Liberation of Yugoslavia
AVNOJ
The Anti-Fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia, known more commonly by its Yugoslav abbreviation AVNOJ, was the political umbrella organization for the national liberation councils of the Yugoslav resistance against the World War II Axis occupation, eventually becoming the...
(AVNOJ). He also helps form the State Antifascist Council of the National Liberation of Croatia (ZAVNOH) and serves as the vice-president. Only two years later he was relieved of his duties due to his aspirations for Croatian autonomy in Yugoslavia. Nevertheless, in 1945 he leads a Yugoslav delegation to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
with Sreten Žujović
Sreten Žujovic
Sreten Žujović was a Serbian veteran of World War I and long-time communist. He was a member of the Central Committee and the Politburo before World War II. He helped organize the Partisan uprising in Serbia in 1941 and became a member of the Supreme Staff...
, where they secretly affirmed their Stalinist views.
Downfall and death
Around the beginning of the Tito-Stalin splitTito-Stalin Split
The Tito–Stalin Split was a conflict between the leaders of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which resulted in Yugoslavia's expulsion from the Communist Information Bureau in 1948...
in 1948 Hebrang became Stalin's prime candidate for replacing Tito. Because of that, Hebrang was being blacklisted within the Yugoslav Communist Party, and was subsequently thrown out. By March his phones were tapped, and in April he was placed under house arrest, relieved of all official duties. In May he was accused of collaborating with the Ustashe and the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
in order to sabotage Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
and spy for the Soviets after Tito broke with Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
. He was arrested in Belgrade by UDBA
UDBA
The Department of State Security was the secret police organization of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.Although it operated with more restraint than other secret...
agents and tried for numerous treasons, while his wife and small children were put under house arrest. Andrija Hebrang disappears under suspicious circumstances; UDBA official Milorad Milatovic who was in charge of the Hebrang case claimed in 1952 that he committed suicide in prison on 11 June 1949, but his body was never recovered and no official death certificate was filed. In the late 1980s, historians Milatovic and Ivankovic-Vonta revealed that Hebrang was assassinated in his Belgrade prison cell for political reasons.
Afterwards
Not long after Hebrang's arrest, his wife Olga was sentenced to twelve years in prison, and his children were sent to live with his sister Ilona in Zagreb. Furthermore, Hebrang's family were forced to change their surname as the government blacklisted anything to do with the name Hebrang. In 1992, the government of the Republic of Croatia rehabilitated Andrija Hebrang and declared him a "victim of communism". His sons AndrijaAndrija Hebrang (son)
Andrija Hebrang is a Croatian physician and politician. A member of the Croatian Democratic Union , he is currently member of the Croatian Parliament...
and Branko have been instrumental in trying to rehabilitate their father and return his remains.