Vukašin Šoškoćanin ( sr-cyr, Вукашин Шошкоћанин, ; 24 June 1958 – 15 May 1991) was a

Croatian Serb The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", хрватски Срби, hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in Croa ...

war commander active during the

Croatian War The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yug ...

Biography

Born to Milan and Ljubica Šoškoćanin on 24 June 1958, Vukašin had two brothers, Radovan and Dušan. He became a member of the Serb Democratic Party in 1990. He was a veterinary technician in

Vukovar Vukovar () ( sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, hu, Vukovár, german: Wukowar) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern region of Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube. Vukovar is the seat of ...

. Šoškoćanin was president of the Borovo commune and commander of the Borovo Selo Territorial Defense Force during the

, most notably during the Battle of Borovo Selo.

Death and legacy

On 15 May 1991 at around 10:30 AM, while returning from a visit to a refugee camp in

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

, he died by drowning in the

Danube river The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

in a "boating accident." Milan Paroški publicly questioned the official cause of death and claimed that

frogmen A frogman is someone who is trained in scuba diving or swimming underwater in a tactical capacity that includes military, and in some European countries, police work. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver, comb ...

(either the Yugoslav River Flotilla or the Serbian State Security) were responsible for Šoškoćanin's death. Paroški also claimed that Šoškoćanin was "an excellent swimmer."''

Pogledi ''Pogledi'' (Serbian Cyrillic: ''Погледи'', meaning Viewpoints in English) was a Serbia-based magazine devoted to politics and history, published biweekly.''Pogledi'', issue number 70, November 9–23, 1990. YU ISSN 0353-3832 ''Pogledi'' wa ...

'', issue number 138, pp. 16-17, 9 March 1993; YU His death is still labeled under "mysterious circumstances." After his death, an elementary school in Borovo was named in his honour. He was posthumously awarded the title of "Hero of the People" in Beli Manastir on 25 September 1991.Profile
blog.vecernji.hr; accessed 8 April 2015.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soskocanin, Vukasin 1958 births 1991 deaths Serbs of Croatia Serbian soldiers Military personnel of the Croatian War of Independence Republic of Serbian Krajina Deaths by drowning Death conspiracy theories Burials at Serbian Orthodox monasteries and churches