The longtime president of the Association of Camp Inmates and a colonel of the Croatian Army died at the age of 74, leaving an indelible mark on the fight for veterans' rights and the preservation of the truth about the Homeland War.
Danijel Rehak, a man whose name became synonymous with the uncompromising fight for the truth about the suffering of Croatian defenders in Serbian camps, died on June 10 in Osijek. A native of Vukovar and a colonel of the Croatian Army, Rehak dedicated his life to the defense of the city, and after the war, to tireless advocacy for the rights of camp inmates and victims of the Homeland War.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković bid farewell to Rehak with the words: "We are grateful for everything he did for the freedom of Croatia, which today has lost another Vukovar hero," reports Teleskop.hr.
Born in 1949 in Vukovar to mother Ruža and father Stjepan, Rehak began his working life far from the turmoil of war. He graduated from the Pedagogical Academy in Osijek and completed the College of Physical Culture in Sarajevo. He worked as a physical education teacher in Vukovar's secondary schools and was president of the football club Radnički from Borovo Naselje. He also managed sports facilities in Borovo.
In early July 1991, when Vukovar faced imminent danger, he was appointed head of the then Secretariat of National Defense. In that role, he coordinated the mobilization and distribution of scarce resources under conditions of daily destruction, until the fall of the city on November 18, 1991.
After the occupation, Rehak was taken into captivity. He passed through several camps, first in Dalj, then Stajićevo and Sremska Mitrovica, and finally in Belgrade. Rehak later described the conditions in which the prisoners lived with chilling words: "Anyone among the guards or external armed individuals who wished to take someone away, abuse them, or liquidate them could do so without any sanctions or obstacles from the formal camp administration, which was composed of the JNA."
It was in the camp in Sremska Mitrovica in 1992 that Rehak showed exceptional courage. As Dragutin Guzovski from the Croatian Association of Camp Inmates noted at the commemoration, Rehak reported to the International Committee of the Red Cross about a hundred Croatian defenders who were listed as missing, even though they were imprisoned. "You gave us back our lives because today Croatia would be searching for hundreds more people," Guzovski said. Rehak was released in a major prisoner exchange on August 14, 1992, in Nemetin.
Even after leaving the camp, Rehak did not stop. Prime Minister Plenković emphasized in his condolences: "He did not stop in peace either, continuing the fight for all those who suffered in the Homeland War, especially the inmates of Serbian concentration camps, selflessly advocating for their well-being." In 1994, he retired with the rank of colonel, and already in 1995, he founded the Croatian Association of Camp Inmates of Serbian Concentration Camps and the Center for Research on War Crimes in Zagreb.
His work left a deep mark in his hometown as well. He revived HNK Radnički in 1999, and three years later unveiled a monument to the 26 club members who died defending Vukovar. He was also one of the initiators of the construction of the Ovčara Memorial House. The then mayor of Vukovar, Ivan Penava, stated: "He left a deep mark, and his departure represents a great loss."
Vukovar defender Ivan Lukić Zolja summarized Rehak's mission: "We owe respect to the living, but the truth to the dead. Danijel was the one who testified that the truth is something we must remember." He described his fight for camp inmates as "the tenth circle of Dante's Inferno" and added: "I will remember him for the passion with which he did everything. He was worth following."
Rehak was also known as a friend of journalists. He would regularly get in touch when they needed information, and he would stand up for them if their employer treated them inappropriately, in his opinion. He did not care about political orientation but persistently advocated for a fairer treatment of them.
On the anniversary of Operation Storm from the Knin Fortress, as Špiro Janović, envoy of Minister Medved, reminded, Rehak told the youth: "We created Croatia, we have Croatia, and it will exist even when we are gone." The commemoration at the Vukovar Memorial Center was accompanied by the sounds of Bosutski bećari and the song "Ne dirajte mi ravnicu."
Rehak was buried at the Memorial Cemetery for Victims of the Homeland War in Vukovar, with full military honors. His bronze bust in the city center and the sports hall in Borovo Naselje bearing his name are lasting reminders of a man who, as it was said, first defended Vukovar with weapons, and then with truth.
