Јован Годић / Jovan Godić 1924 - 1945

Born 13.3.1924 in Kamenare
Died 5.5.1945 in Gusen

Biography

Jovan “Jova” Godić was born in village Kamenare, near city of Kruševac. His parents had twelve children. One child died shortly after birth. He was fourth child and second son of Svetislav “Bala” Godić and Mara Godić. His father was veteran from WWI, he survived The Great Serbian Retreat also known as the Albanian Golgotha, one of the greatest and most tragic episode of WWI for which was awarded with medal after the war.

The capitulation of Kingdom of Yugoslavia left Serbian defense in ruins. It didn’t take long for Serbian people to form a resistance. Young Jovan, he was 17 years old at the time, talked about joining the Partisans. He made home-improvised rifle. A home traitors informed German officials in Kruševac and German soldiers came soon afer in the village looking for him and his friends. My grandmother, his sister (four years his junior) remembered how she and other sisters have hidden him in the stables, in the monger and covered him with straw and hay. As he was nowhere to be found, German soldiers became interested in behavior of the girls. His sisters were standing near the stables, crying. Germans entered the stables with pitchforks and started stabbing them in the monger. The girls started screaming, they were terrified the Germans would stab him to death. He was discovered and taken with them. What happened afterwards his family never found out. He was probably taken to Banjica and after that to Mauthausen. He died on 5 May 1945, in Gusen, the same day the camp was liberated. By some reports, he was blind and weighted only 27 kg.

His family, his sisters particularly were broken. My grandmother and especially her brother Ilija who was two years younger than Jovan, never stopped searching for more information about his last years. My grandmother died in 2015, she was 85 years old and never stopped thinking about him.

Vesna Stjepanović, great-niece (my grandmother Javorka Miladinović, nee Godić, was Jovan Godić’ sister)

Location In room