Podgaric Monument

The Podgarić Monument was erected in 1967 by Dušan Džamonja as a memorial to the 1941 Srb uprising. A nearby plaque reads “Here are buried 900 soldiers from the wider area of Moslavine who sacrificed their lives for the freedom and independence of our nation during the National Liberation Struggle from 1941 to 1945.”

The monument crowns a hill in the small town of Podgarić, where it towers over an artificial lake below. The structure was commissioned by Tito, Yugoslavia’s long-time dictator, who ordered the creation of a number of similar monuments to World War II sites throughout Yugoslavia. Most of the sites were former Yugoslav Partisan memorials, the party with which Tito was involved and who took over after the war.

The abstract monuments were meant to symbolize power and triumph, but were poorly maintained after Yugoslavia fragmented. The Podgarić Monument receives occasional upkeep, but it doesn’t get much visitor traffic.