Stjepan Steiner (16 October 1915 – 18 January 2006) was a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n physician, cardiologist, Major general in the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian language, Croatian and ; , J ...

and personal physician of

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

Early life and family

Steiner was born into a middle class

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish family. His father was a veterinarian in

Donja Stubica Donja Stubica () is a town in Croatia, about northeast of Zagreb on the northern slope of Medvednica. It is connected by the D307 road (Croatia), state road D307 and L202 railway (Croatia), L202 railway. The total population is 5,680, with 2,200 ...

and member of the

Croatian Peasant Party The Croatian Peasant Party (, HSS) is an agrarianism, agrarian List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun Radić, Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). The ...

. In 1929, he moved to Zagreb with his family.

Education

Steiner attended elementary school in

Velika Gorica Velika Gorica () is the largest and most populous city in Zagreb County, Croatia. According to the 2011 census, the city itself has a population of 31,341, and the municipality has a population of 63,517 inhabitants. Velika Gorica is the centre ...

, and first three grades of secondary school in Šušak. At first Steiner was interested in the veterinary medicine, but his father said he could study anything, just not that. He graduated from the School of Medicine, at the University of Zagreb. In addition, his brother graduated from the Veterinary school.

World War II and later years

After graduation, Steiner was recruited in the

Royal Yugoslav Army The Yugoslav Army ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslovenska vojska, JV, Југословенска војска, ЈВ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Army, was the principal Army, ground force of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It existed from the establishment of ...

and was sent to the Serbian-Bulgarian border. After the army Steiner returned to Zagreb. His pleasant life in the middle-class family was interrupted in 1941, when

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionar ...

took the power with the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

establishment. His father was forced to retire from his job position and was sent to concentration camp, but with the help of

Vladko Maček Vladimir Maček (20 June 1879 – 15 May 1964) was a politician in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. As a leader of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) following the 1928 assassination of Stjepan Radić, Maček had been a leading Croatian political figure ...

he was released. Steiner himself was also arrested and ended up in a detention center in Zavrtnica. He was rescued from the deportation to

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...

by physician Miroslav Schlesinger, who organized the departure of the Croatian Jewish doctors to Bosnia, to combat endemic syphilis in 1941. 80 Jewish doctors were sent to Bosnia by Independent State of Croatia authorities, among them Steiner and his wife Zora Goldschmidt-Steiner, one of the most prominent surgeons in the war. Most of those doctors would later flee to join the

Partisans Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Itali ...

. His wife organized surgical teams for Partisans. With Partisans, Steiner participated in the Fourth and Fifth Enemy Offensive. Steiner meet Josip Broz Tito during the preparation for the second session of the Anti-Fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia in

Jajce Jajce ( sr-Cyrl, Јајце) is a town and municipality in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, wi ...

. He accompanied Tito during his visit in

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, where Tito meet with

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

. In 1944 he moved to

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

with Tito. Steiner was the personal physician of Tito from 1943 to 1947. In 1947 he asked Tito to be relieved of his duty as his physician. Soon after Steiner returned from Belgrade to Zagreb, where he was reunited with his father who survived the war. Till his retirement, Steiner worked at the Military Hospital in Zagreb. In 1976 he was retired as a Major general of

Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or staff corps, officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are exam ...

. He was an honorary member of the Academy of Medical Sciences in Zagreb and internist-cardiologist of international reputation. The last 25 years of his life, Steiner volunteered at a Jewish retirement home Lavoslav Schwarz in Zagreb.

Death

Steiner died in Zagreb on 18 January 2006, and was buried at the

Mirogoj Cemetery The Mirogoj City Cemetery (, ), also known as Mirogoj Cemetery (), is a cemetery park that is considered to be among the more noteworthy landmarks in the city of Zagreb. The cemetery inters members of all religious groups: Catholic, Orthodox, M ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Steiner, Stjepan 1915 births 2006 deaths People from Donja Stubica Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Jews from Austria-Hungary Croatian Austro-Hungarians Croatian cardiologists Jews in the Yugoslav Partisans Yugoslav Partisans members Croatian people of World War II School of Medicine, University of Zagreb alumni Generals of the Yugoslav People's Army Jewish physicians Yugoslav physicians