The following text is not a historical study. It is a retelling of the witness’s life story based on the memories recorded in the interview. The story was processed by external collaborators of the Memory of Nations. In some cases, the short biography draws on documents made available by the Security Forces Archives, State District Archives, National Archives, or other institutions. These are used merely to complement the witness’s testimony. The referenced pages of such files are saved in the Documents section.

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Milica Matić (* 1949)

• Milica Matić was born the 23 of January 1949 in Divoselo

• Spring 1941 – Ustaša troops set in Divoselo

• August 1941 – the local Serb population flew to Velebit

• Ustaša forces captured them, and killed them in Jarčja Jama, Milica’s mother was one of the few survivors

• Milica family has to flew Croatia in 1991

MILICA FAMILY, THE BEGINNING OF WWII

Milica Matić was born the 23 of January 1949 in Divoselo, close to Gospić. Both her parents were engaged in agriculture. Her mother was illiterate, while her father finished four grades of elementary shcool. In 1941, her father was called as a reservist in Otočac. With the beginning of the war, he was moved in Doboj. In Doboj, Serbians and Croatians were divided, the Croats were sent home earlier, while the Serbs the day after, to avoid any incidents among them. However, on the second day, German officers arrived and loaded them on trucks, and brought her father and the others to Germany, where he stayed until the end of the war.

THE ARRIVAL OF THE USTAŠA IN DIVOSELO, THE VIOLENCE AGAINST THE SERBIAN POPULATION

Milica mother remembers when in the spring of 1941, Ustaša troops arrived to Divoselo. They settled in a school there, and forced people to bring them food and other goods. She also remembered as people who were called to the school were the Ustaša were, did not return. In August, in the village people started to say that the Ustaša were killing everybody, and that they had to live. Her mother left, taking with her a cow and a horse, and seek refuge on Velebit, where she stayed for some days. On the third day, she and the other people who took refuge on the mountain, started to hear some shots. People started to run away in panic. They were surrounded by Ustaša, and had nowhere to run. They were taken to a camp, some of them were killed immediately, while some were tied up. Milica’s mother remembers around 120 women and children, and 50 men.

OLANAK, THE MASSACRE AT JARČJA JAMA

Milica mother was then taken to Olanak. A smaller village, which was suspicious to them, as it was not on the way to the closest biggest city, Gospić, but toward the forest. They were taken in a tavern, and imprisoned there for three days, with no food or water. On the third day, the Ustaša moved them, again not toward Gospić, but Velebit. They were taken in the caves, called Jarčja Jama. They were ordered to sit down, and the Ustaša started to kill them. When it came the turn of Milica’s mother, she had her son Branko in her arms. The soldiers took the kid and killed him. Her other two kids, Dušanka and Milka, were killed to, and thrown in the pit. Milica mother was stabbed seven times in the back, she fell in the pit too but survived the fall, as well as the bullets that were shot shortly after. She was able to exit the pit, by climbing over the bodies. When she managed to get out, it was already late, and she spent the night covered by a bush. The day after, she set off to reach her house. It took her around eight days, because of her injuries. There, a neighbor helped her to reach Počitelj, where an aunt lived. After the end of the war, she went back to her house and found that nothing was left, as the whole village was set on fire. However, she waited there for her husband, who arrived some days later, and they were reunited.

THE MEMORY OF MILICA’S MOTHER

After the end of the war, Milica mother and her husband rebuilt their house and had Milica and her brothers. Milica says how difficult it was for her mother to talk about 1941. Milica remembers she used to say “what happened, happened. It was evil, it did not happen again. It had to be like that and it was”. Milica also says “I think but we felt their suffering and all that they are in their own way, I mean in my house there was never singing, there was never dancing, there was never anything. We just worked and somehow got rid of poverty and misery and looked ahead, towards a brighter future, so that’s it”.

THE WAR IN THE 1990S

When the war started in 1991, Milica’s mother was really afraid. At the age of 83, with her husband, who was then 79, they left their house. Milica’s brother, who worked at the gymnasium in Gospić, also left, and helped their parents to reach a relative in Belgrade. When they went back, after the end of the war, they found that their house was demolished and set on fire, and nothing was left.