Righteous among the Nations Ceremony in Aleksandrovac
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Ambassador Honoring Serbian Righteous

  • 1/29/2015
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    Predrag i Stana Zdravkovic Predrag i Stana Zdravkovic Copyright: Family photo
     
     
    In February H.E. Ambassador Yossef Levy will be posthumously awarding the Medal of the Righteous among the Nations to Predrag and Stana Zdravković. Their son Budimir will be receiving the Medal on behalf of his parents at the ceremony in Aleksandrovac City Hall.
     
    Story about righteous Predrag & Stana Zdravković
    Dr. Julija Dajč lived in Aleksandrovac and worked with her husband Dr. Ladislav Dajč, as a doctor. Following the German invasion of the area in which they lived, they were dismissed from their jobs and they had to leave their rented apartment. In December 1941, they started to wander from village to village in the area around Aleksandrovac and in summer 1942, they joined a group of men that had escaped from forced labor and hid with them in the forest. However, in December 1942, Julija, in an advanced stage of pregnancy, could no longer stay in the forest and someone from the group took her to Predrag Zdravković in one of the villages. Predrag and his wife Stana – who remembered her as a doctor – accepted Julija into their home. She stayed there for six weeks, despite of the grave risk to the host family and was then transferred to Borivoje Bondžić, who lived in another village and promised to find a family in whose home Julija would be able to deliver her child. However, the man who was supposed to transfer Julija to the family did not show up and Julija remained with Borivoje and his wife Grozdana, despite their trepidation that she would give birth there. A week later, Julija was transferred to the village of Latkovac, to the house of a farmer who promised she could deliver her baby in his home in return for payment. However, when a rumor spread that Predrag had been arrested because he was hiding a Jew, Julija was asked to leave the farmer’s home. On March 3rd, 1943, she was taken to the home of Milenija and Slobodan Knežević, in Latkovac and the very next day, she gave birth to a son Miloš (later Ilan Doron). Two weeks later, Julija had to leave the Knežević couple, because the Germans intensified their searches in the area. She began to wander with her son from one place to another, eventually moving to 24 different hiding places with the help of Slobodan Knežević, who transported her and Borivoje Bondžić, who found the hiding places for her and brought her food. After the war they discovered that Ladislav had perished and in 1951, mother and son immigrated to Israel.
     
    On March 18th, 1980, YAD VASHEM recognized Borivoje & Grozdana Bondžić, Slobodan & Milenija Knežević and Predrag & Stana Zdravković – Righteous among the Nations.