Prebilovci
Encyclopedia
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in Herzegovina
Herzegovina
Herzegovina is the southern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. While there is no official border distinguishing it from the Bosnian region, it is generally accepted that the borders of the region are Croatia to the west, Montenegro to the south, the canton boundaries of the Herzegovina-Neretva...
, near the city of Čapljina
Capljina
Čapljina is a town and municipality of the same name in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Čapljina is located on the border with Croatia a mere from the Adriatic Sea....
(Чапљина). Prebilovci was first mentioned in the 15th century. The village has a population of roughly around 50 inhabitants.
Prebilovci is located in the Čapljina municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
, which makes up one of the nine municipalities in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton
Herzegovina-Neretva Canton
The Herzegovina-Neretva Canton is one of the 10 cantons of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The canton mainly comprises the Neretva river valley area and parts of Herzegovina west of Mostar, its administrative center.-Municipalities:...
. The village is also located near the Nature Park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
and Bird Reserve
Bird Reserve
A bird reserve is a wildlife refuge designed to protect bird species. Like other wildlife refuges, the main goal of a reserve is to prevent species from becoming endangered or extinct. Typically, bird species in a reserve are protected from hunting and habitat destruction...
of Hutovo Blato
Hutovo Blato
Hutovo Blato is a nature reserve and bird reserve located in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is primarily composed of marshlands that were created by the underground aquifer system of the Krupa River. It is fed from the limestone massif of Ostrvo that divides the Deransko lake and Svitavsko lake.The...
(5 km from Čapljina). Since 1995, Hutovo Blato has been protected as a nature park by the Public Enterprise Hutovo Blato.
Ethnic composition, 1991 census
total: 174- SerbsSerbsThe Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
- 171 (98.27%) - CroatsCroatsCroats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
- 1 (0.57%) - others and unknown - 2 (1.14%)
- Official results from the book: Ethnic composition of Bosnia-Herzegovina population, by municipalities and settlements, 1991. census, Zavod za statistiku Bosne i Hercegovine - Bilten no.234, Sarajevo 1991.
History
The name of the village, Prebilovci, first emerged sometime around the 15th century, and is believed to have come from the old family of Pribilović. In the Serb Orthodox cemetery and in some other locations too, there are many beautifully carved out stone graves, probably of bogomilsBogomilism
Bogomilism was a Gnostic religiopolitical sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar Petar I in the 10th century...
from the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. There is also an old grave which is believed to have belonged to a certain Stjepan Pribilović. Today the name Pribilovci is also more frequently used for the village.
Before the outbreak of the Second World War In Yugoslavia
Invasion of Yugoslavia
The Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II...
, the village was made up of Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
and a few Muslim families as well, who had converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
centuries earlier. The present population is primary made up of Serbs, ever since the war drew to a close, when the Muslims left their homes or were expelled because of the ethnic tensions. The people acted in revenges for atrocities committed against their women and children. Few villages in Herzegovina have witnessed these kinds of horrors during the world war two persecution and genocide of Serbs.
World War II
During the Second World WarWorld 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...
the inhabitants of Prebilovci fell victim to the Ustaša's persecutions of non-Croats (Serbs). On 6 August 1941, some 650 women and children were taken away from their homes, after which they were moved to a place called Šurmanci
Šurmanci
Šurmanci is a village in Herzegovina, in Čapljina municipality, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.-Ethnic composition, 1991 census:total: 403* Croats - 354 * Muslims by nationality - 47 * "Yugoslavs" - 2...
, where they were later thrown into natural pits around that area (the most infamous being Golubinka), together with 1,300 other Serbs living in the Čapljina and Mostar municipalities
Mostar
Mostar is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest and one of the most important cities in the Herzegovina region and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation. Mostar is situated on the Neretva river and is the fifth-largest city in the country...
.