Milovan Milojević | Serbian WWI soldier who died in the Netherlands.
Introduction:
Milovan Milojević was born in 1889 in Azanja, a village in the Podunavlje district approximately 80 kilometres South-East of Serbia's capital Belgrade.
He was the son of Stepan (1851-1927) and Ikonija Milojević. Milovan had three brothers, Čedomir (1883-1927), Milan (1893-?) and Stevan (1893-1987). Milovan was married to Stanica and they got two children: Svetomir (1909-died as a child) and Dragoslav (1912-1996).
When he had to serve his country he was part of the 4th company, 1st battalion in the 8th regiment infantry, his rank has been unknown until so far.
Azanja:
The village where Milovan was born, Azanja, had 8803 inhabitants in 1910 (the Kingdom of Serbia had then 2.922.058 inhabitants). In 1921 the population of Azanja dropped to 8052 inhabitants.
The village of Azanja paid a huge price during the Balkan Wars and the First World War: it lost almost 800 soldiers during these wars, so far only around 400 were traced back. Azanja was back then, and still is, a rural village so it must have been a huge impact when such a high amount of men died because of the wars.
Milovan was one of them, but also Djuro Stojadinović who died a day earlier in Nieuw-Milligen. Unfortunately we haven't been able to find his roots in Azanja yet.
Capture & Arrival in the Netherlands :
According to the Prisoners of the First World War International Red Cross website we know that Milovan was captured 14/11/1915 in Kruševac (Central-Serbia).
On 18/12/1915 he was reported in the Prisoners of War camp in Braunau (in Bohomia, nowadays the Czech Republic, back then part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire). The list was written 21/01/1916, see below. Jindřichovice and Braunau were used as transit camps in the beginning of the war and the Serbian Prisoners of War were mostly transported further into Germany.
We know from earlier discoveries that they (Miloš Jeremić and Đorđe Vukosavljević) also spent time in camps in Soltau and Emden (in the province of Hannover or in German the 'Kriegsgefangenenlager des X. Armeekorps in Hannover'). Other soldiers who arrived in the Netherlands were held prisoners in the camps of the VII Korps Münster.
We do not know when Milovan arrived in the Netherlands, but at one point he was transported to the Prisoner of War camp in Nieuw-Milligen between Garderen and Apeldoorn. Also French soldiers were there waiting for transport to their home country, as the Serbian soldiers. We do not know when he was transported and from where (most possibly Enschede). According to the family we talked to he died on the train, but we cannot confirm this.
Burial and exhumation:
Milovan died on the 21st January 1919 in Nieuw-Milligen (a village which is a part of the municipality of Apeldoorn) of Spanish flu. A day later (22nd January 1919) autopsy was done by a doctor who concluded that Milovan died of Spanish flu.
His death was registered by the municipality of Apeldoorn (act 71, date 23rd January 1919, which can be found here). This was reported by Jan David Mathias Schlaepfer, 49 years old Sergeant-Major in the Dutch army. Hendrik Muis, 45 years old civil servant, was the second person who registered his death.
Milovan was buried on 24th January 1919 together with 11 of his comrades in Garderen (municipality of Barneveld). On the cemetery where he was buried a monument was erected in April 1919 by the legation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in the Hague.
The text was in French and it was written les soldats serbes décédés au camp de Millingen 1919 with 29 names in French transcription, and on the back in Serbian and Dutch the text Deceased for Serbia / the grateful Serbian fatherland (Умрли за Србију / Gestorven voor Serbie, Благодарна Отаџбина Србија / Het Dankbaar Serbische Vaderland).
In May 1938, he was exhumed (together with the other Serbian WWI graves) and transported to Jindřichovice. The exhumation report can be found below. Even though the newspaper articles in 1938 mentioned that the remains of '89 Serbian soldiers' were repatriated to 'Yugoslavia', the official documents of the time mention 'Czechoslovakia' as the destination.
The remains of Milovan and 87 others were transferred to Jindřichovice in Czechoslovakia (nowadays Czech Republic) via the Dutch/German border at Beek-Wyler. It is not known in which box his remains were collected as on his Serbian exhumation report (no K. Br. 84024/XII) it is not mentioned. It must be one of the lead boxes numbered 45, 61-65, or 67-89 as for the other numbers the names were mentioned.
Milovan found his last resting place in Jindřichovice, together with 7658 other Serbian soldiers and 189 Russian soldiers (calculated as on 1940).
Discovery:
After contacts with officials of the municipality of Smederevska Palanka (Azanja is part of that municipality nowadays) we got the contact information of Žarko Talijan which we contacted afterwards. He wrote a book about Azanja and the victims of the Balkan Wars and the First World War and wanted to meet us. When we met 19/03/2016 in Azanja he showed us, together with a relative of Milovan, the monument on the graveyard of Azanja.
This was actually the first monument we have seen so far where it was written where the soldier died.
On the monument is written: 'Milovan sin Stepana Milojevića vojnik žive 30 g. umre 6-1.1919 g. u Milingenu u Holandiji. Spomen dižu ožalošćeni otac mati braća sin i supruga.
Translation: Milovan, a son of Stepan Milojević, a soldier, lived for 30 years, died 6.1.1919. in Miligen in the Netherlands. The monument erected by his bereaved father, brothers, son and wife.
Conclusion:
With the help of the civil servants of Smederevska Palanka we contacted Žarko Talijan and together with Damir Živković they gave us the information we needed.
We met a family member and gave copies of the official Dutch & Serbian acts and pictures of the monument in Garderen and the mausoleum in Jindřichovice to him. At least now they know that he has not been forgotten and that his name is written on the monument in Garderen, that there is a cross for him as well there and that his remains are in the mausoleum in Jindřichovice.
We are very grateful for the picture of Milovan, as he is now not just a name any more, but a person with a face and a history. He died in the Netherlands with his comrades far from Serbia, but 100 years later both countries did not forget him and his comrades.
Večna mu slava! (=Eternal glory to him!)
Sources / Special thanks to
The following sources were used:
-Žarko Talijan, Miris Tamjana -Azanjci u ratovima od 1912 do 1918 godine, 2014.
-Damir Živković who helped to write the part about Azanja.
-National Archives of Serbia : Exhumation report , no K. Br. 84024/XII
-Gelders Archief (Archives of the province of Gelderland) : Civil registration Gemeente Apeldoorn January 1919 No 71.
-Habert, Henri, Binnen het prikkeldraad: naar verhalen van uitgeweken Serviërs (Entre les fils barbelés: D'après les récits des évadés Serbes), Amsterdam, 1919. More information about the routes and places on the special Google Maps we have created: Link to Google Maps (click)
-International Red Cross The Prisoners of the First World War historical archives website: 18,2,64./ZH96 PS255, link: http://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Details/4768524/12/2/
Special thanks to:
-Žarko Talijan
-Damir Živković (https://nastavnikdamir.wordpress.com)
-Bojan Stojadinović
Story by:
Fabian Vendrig with the help of Tanja Vendrig, John Stienen and Damir Živković.
Photograph of Milovan Milojević , copies of the official Dutch & Serbian acts and pictures of the monument in Garderen and the mausoleum in Jindřichovice
44.42602299999999,20.883406400000013
Photograph
Milovan Milojević
Azanja
Picture of Milovan Milojević (photo courtesy Žarko Talijan & Damir Živković).
The school of Azanja , early 20th century (Photo courtesy Damir Živković)
Detailed card from the website of the Prisoners of the First World War, historical archiv
50.5856582,16.33181509999997
Broumov
Official document
the autopsy report of the doctor who confirmed his death on the 21st January 1919.
Belgrade
44.786568,20.44892159999995
Exhumation report :
The remains of Milovan and 87 others were transferred to Jindřichovice in Czechoslovakia (nowadays Czech Republic) via the Dutch/German border at Beek-Wyler. It is not known in which box his remains were collected as on his Serbian exhumation report (no K. Br. 84024/XII) it is not mentioned. It must be one of the lead boxes numbered 45, 61-65, or 67-89 as for the other numbers the names were mentioned.
50.2826603,12.602321800000027
Inside the mausoleum in Jindřichovice (CZ), 28/06/2014 (photo by Fabian Vendrig).
Jindřichovice
Monument for Milovan on the graveyard of Azanja (Serbia), 19/03/2016 (Photo by Fabian Vendrig).
On the monument is written: 'Milovan sin Stepana Milojevića vojnik žive 30 g. umre 6-1.1919 g. u Milingenu u Holandiji. Spomen dižu ožalošćeni otac mati braća sin i supruga.
Translation: Milovan, a son of Stepan Milojević, a soldier, lived for 30 years, died 6.1.1919. in Miligen in the Netherlands. The monument erected by his bereaved father, brothers, son and wife.
Photo below: detail of the monument for Milovan in Azanja, 19/03/2016 (photo by Fabian Vendrig).
Garderen
52.2329632,5.714814400000023
The cross in Garderen (NL) with Milovan Milojević's name, 22/05/2014. Photo by Fabian Vendrig
CONTRIBUTOR
secanje.nl
DATE
/
LANGUAGE
eng
ITEMS
9
INSTITUTION
Europeana 1914-1918
PROGRESS
METADATA
Discover Similar Stories
Miloš Jeremić: Serbian WWI soldier from Resnik (SRB) who died in Nijmegen (NL)
8 Items
The monument for Miloš Jeremić in Resnik. 11.11.2015 || || The monument for Miloš Jeremić in Garderen (the Netherlands) || 52.2329632,5.714814400000023
monument of the Belgian Soldiers of WWI who died in France
1 Item
monument of the Belgian Soldiers of WWI who died in France, where also Cyriel Camiel Lesage has been buried
Serbian WWI Soldier Miloš Gavrović
5 Items
Miloš Gavrović was born in 1896 in Miločaj, a village near Kraljevo in Central-Serbia, as a son of Leka Gavrović. When the First World War broke out he was just 18. He left his village, we do not know when exactly, to serve his country. He never returned, because he died at the age of 23 on the 23th January 1919 in Usselo, a village near Enschede in the Netherlands. Until December 2012 his relatives did not know Miloš died in the Netherlands, they were thinking he died in captivity in Germany, until we discovered the story which you can read here. Arrival in the Netherlands: We think that Miloš arrived in the Netherlands after the First World ended, with many of his comrades, from a Prisoners of War (POW) camp in Germany. He ended up in Usselo, a little village near Enschede in the Netherlands. Enschede was scene of massive arrivals of prisoners of war from different countries. From November 1918 till February 1919 around 80.000 POW’s passed through Enschede. There is still a monument in Enschede remembering this, which is now on the “Cort van der Lindenlaan” (Cort van der Linden was the prime minister of NL during WWI) and there is written in Dutch, English, French and Italian that: 32.690 French, 26.960 English, 6930 Belgium, 6650 Italian, 1160 Serbian, 50 Russian and 18 Japanese POW's passed through Enschede during that period. Usselo: It is still unknown why Miloš ended up in Usselo, because most POW's were hosted in the textile factories in Enschede after they first passed through the quarantine camp, but it is not confirmed if Miloš passed there. We know he died the 23th January 1919 around 15h00, according to his death certificate. His death was registered by the Johannes Bernardus Konings, a civil servant from Lonneker municipality (Usselo was part of this municipality) and reported by Jan Dirk ten Beek (a 36-year-old undertaker) and Dionysfus Niesfen (a 29-year-old custom’s officer) both living in Enschede. Most probably Miloš died because of Spanish flu. During that period there was a massive outbreak of Spanish flu and a lot of people died. Miloš was not the only Serbian WWI soldier who died in Usselo: a total of 10 Serbian WW1 soldiers died in Usselo between 17th and 24th January 1919. The 23th January 3 Serbian soldiers died in Usselo. In nearby Enschede 6 Serbian soldiers died in the same period and 1 soldier earlier, on 11th August 1918, most possibly escaped from Germany. Burial and exhumation: Miloš was buried in Lonneker (Boerenkerkhof, Deurningerstraat in Enschede). His grave was exhumed in May 1938 and transported to Nijmegen, together with the other Serbian graves. Even though the newspaper articles in 1938 mentioned that the remains of the 89 Serbian soldiers were repatriated to ‘Yugoslavia’, the official documents of the time mention ‘Czechoslovakia’ as the destination. The remains of Miloš had been transferred to Jindřichovice in Czechoslovakia (nowadays Czech Republic) via the Dutch/German border at Wyler/Kranenburg. 1939 - Monument in Miločaj: As written in the introduction, his relatives did not know where Miloš died: they only knew he never returned home, so in 1939 the brother of Miloš, Milovan Gavrović, made a monument in Miločaj to honor him. This monument is until today still in the graveyard in Miločaj. His name was also engraved on a remembrance plate in Miločaj, with the names of the soldiers who died in WWI and WWII. Discovery: In December 2012 Tanja Raković, together with Fabian Vendrig and John Stienen, was translating the official Dutch death certificates for all the Serbian WWI soldiers who died in the Netherlands and they discovered “Milosch Gavrowits” from “Milotschaila (Oprotsatsinski)”. Tanja is from Miločaj and she recognized her village. A contact was quickly made with Miodrag Gavrović, a cousin of Miloš Gavrović and son of Milovan Gavrović who made the monument for Miloš. On the 3rd of January 2013 Tanja and Fabian visited the monument in Miločaj and met Miodrag, who was surprised about the news he had got less than a month before about his uncle Miloš Gavrović who became from an unknown Serbian WWI prisoner of war who died in the Netherlands a man with his own family roots. Conclusion: We traced Miloš Gavrović from his official Dutch death certificate from the municipality of Lonneker back to his relatives in Miločaj and we were lucky here. The name of Miloš is also on the monument for the Serbian WWI soldiers who died in Garderen in the Netherlands. In Belgrade in May 2013 we found out, in the documents at the Archives of Yugoslavija, that the remains of Miloš had been transported in Jindřichovice in Czechoslovakia (nowadays Czech Republic). When we visited the monument in Serbia we were interviewed by a journalist from Politika, one of Serbia’s biggest newspapers and the article appeared in Politika, which you can find here. Later our findings about Miloš were also reported in a Dutch newspaper (Reformatorisch Dagblad). The Netherlands and Serbia did not forgot Miloš Gavrović...... Text from : http://www.secanje.nl/en/findings/milos-gavrovic/ || First World War, Serbia, the Netherlands, PoW's