Rade Končar
| Rade Končar | |
|---|---|
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| 2nd Secretary of the Communist Party of Croatia |
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In office 1940 – 22 May 1942 |
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| Preceded by | Đuro Špoljarić |
| Succeeded by | Vlado Popović |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 August/28 October 1911 Končarev Kraj, Korenica, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 22 May 1942 (aged 30) Šibenik, Kingdom of Italy |
| Political party | Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) |
| Children | Rade |
| Occupation |
Politician Revolutionary |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Yugoslav Partisans |
Rade Končar (Serbian Cyrillic: Раде Кончар; 6 August/28 October 1911 – 22 May 1942) was a Croatian Serb politician and leader of the Yugoslav Partisans in the Independent State of Croatia and Dalmatia during the early stages of World War II in Yugoslavia. He became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) in 1934 and was arrested in 1936 when the Belgrade branch of the party was banned by Yugoslav authorities. After serving one year of hard labour in Sremska Mitrovica prison he was released and elected political secretary of the central committee of the League of Communists of Croatia (SKH) in Zagreb. In October 1940, he was made a member of the central committee of the KPJ at the Fifth National Conference of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.
Following the April 1941 Axis occupation of Yugoslavia Končar took part in the anti-fascist uprising which retook areas from German control in Serbia, and personally led attacks against Axis forces in Croatia. Having relocated to Dalmatia in October 1941, in November 1941 he was ambushed by fascist agents, arrested and beaten. The Ustaše disclosed his identity to Italian authorities who then put him on trial. Končar was sentenced to death and executed alongside twenty-five others on 22 May 1942 in Šibenik.
He was posthumously named the first People's Hero of Yugoslavia and was revered as a war hero.
Rade Končar was born in the village of Končarev Kraj in Plitvička Jezera, near the town of Korenica. Some sources give his birthdate as 28 October 1911, while others state that he was born on 6 August 1911. A Serb from Croatia, Končar moved to the Serbian town of Leskovac where he finished school and became a metal worker. He became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) in Belgrade in 1934. In 1936, the Belgrade branch of the party was outlawed. Končar was arrested and imprisoned for one year of hard labour, which he spent in Sremska Mitrovica prison. Upon being released, he moved to Zagreb and began working for Siemens. He formed a Communist movement in the city and organized a successful strike in 1938. That same year, he was elected to membership of the Communist party committee in Zagreb and to be the political secretary of the central committee of the League of Communists of Croatia (SKH). Končar was inaugurated as political secretary at the first conference of the SKH and was made a member of the central committee of the KPJ at the Fifth National Conference of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in October 1940. He played an important role in the party's leadership due to his worker's background and contributed greatly to the strengthening of the party organization. In January 1941, he was named the head of the Regional committee of KPJ for Serbia.
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