Janko Gredelj (28 March 1916 – 23 December 1941) was a Yugoslav

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

and one of the organizers of the antifascist struggle in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

in 1941. He was born in Zagreb in 1916. After finishing public school, he went on railway school. He also got the job there. In 1937, he became a member of the Young Communist League of Yugoslavia, and the next year a member of the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats a ...

. After

invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...

Axis powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...

in 1941, he was one of the organizers of the shock groups at the railway in Zagreb. He participated in a few diversions: attack at the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

agents in Bukovačka street and theft of 60 rifles, 10,000 bullets and some hand grenades from Germans' wagons at the West railway station in Zagreb.Janko Janka Gredelj
at www.znaci.net Gredelj was arrested by the Ustashe in the summer of 1941. He was tortured in prison, but said nothing. He was set free, since there was not enough evidences to prove his guilt. After that, he was appointed to work in illegal press cell of the

Communist Party of Croatia League of Communists of Croatia (, SKH) was the Croatian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ). It came into power in 1945. Until 1952, it was known as Communist Party of Croatia (, KPH). The party dissolved in 1990. History ...

in Klaićeva street. Ustasha agents discovered illegal press room on 23 December 1941, and tried to arrest Gredelj. He started shooting and tried to escape, but was mortally wounded. He was transported to Vinogradska street hospital where he soon died of wounds. He was posthumously proclaimed a

People's Hero of Yugoslavia The Order of the People's Hero or the Order of the National Hero ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Orden narodnog heroja, Oрден народног хероја; , ), was a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav gallantry medal, the ...

in 1951. A company

TŽV Gredelj TŽV Gredelj (''Tvornica željezničkih vozila Gredelj d.o.o.'') is a state-owned Croatian rolling stock company founded in 1894 as the railway workshops of the Hungarian State Railways. History The company's history dates to 1894 and the establis ...

bears the name after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gredelj, Janko 1916 births 1941 deaths Politicians from Zagreb Croatian people of World War II Yugoslav Partisans members Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero League of Communists of Croatia politicians Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery