The story of a Herzegovinian Franciscan and his incredible humanitarian mission after World War I comes to life at the 61st Vinkovci Autumns through the moving testimonies of the descendants of the saved children.
There are trains that, besides goods and passengers, carried something far more precious in times of despair for families from the Herzegovinian karst, hope. It was precisely such trains that ran between Herzegovina and Slavonia after World War I, when, thanks to the Herzegovinian Franciscan Friar Didak Buntić, around 17,000 children were saved from certain death by starvation.
The year 1917 was one of the worst in the history of that region. From April to October, not a drop of rain fell, and the drought, food shortages, and exhaustion of the population left behind empty fields and hungry families. Mortality among the youngest was constantly rising, and many parents could no longer provide even the most basic conditions for life.
Among those who refused to accept such a fate was Friar Didak Buntić, today called the Herzegovinian Moses and the father of the poor. The builder of the Široki Brijeg basilica, the principal of the Franciscan Gymnasium in Široki Brijeg, an enlightener, and a man of extraordinary energy, he did not remain a silent observer. He initiated the organization of one of the largest humanitarian missions in these regions, convinced that children could be saved if they were taken to where there was food.
Friar Marinko Šakota, a Herzegovinian Franciscan who has researched Friar Didak's work and is one of the founders of the "Didak's Days" event in Čitluk, emphasizes: "His work reached as far as people's needs. He believed that his region could do much better." After numerous negotiations with the authorities of the time and with the help of Franciscans, doctors, and benefactors, the trains began to depart towards Slavonia, Syrmia, and Bačka.
"Records show that the first group left Mostar on September 10, 1917. The entire mission encompassed 12,270 children, but it is estimated that there were many more, even up to 17,000, because some went to Slavonia through private channels. Slavonia was rich, a breadbasket, and open-hearted," explains Friar Marinko Šakota, adding that everything was excellently planned for the circumstances of the time. New findings, according to actor Robert Pehar, suggest that the number of saved children could reach 25,000 if areas such as Dalmatia, Bosnia, and Istria are taken into account.
Upon arrival in Slavonia, the children were taken in by families who opened the doors of their homes, sharing bread, clothing, and daily life with them. According to data found by Friar Marinko, around four thousand children remained in Slavonia. They started families here, raised children, and became part of the communities that accepted them as their own.
One of them was Nikola Sušac, who was 13 years old at the time of the mission. Born in Cerno near Ljubuški as one of six children, he joined the column of children heading to Slavonia without his parents' knowledge. "He left without asking his parents. He joined a group of people he saw and went all the way to Zemun," recalls his son Antun Sušac Peičić.
After staying on a farm in Zemun and working for the Kovačić family in Bapska, he came to Cerna through a priest, to the family of Antun and Franca Peičić. They adopted him in 1930, a few months before his wedding to Manda Kumburić. "Antun and Franca organized the wedding as if he were their own son. His biological parents did not live to see the marriage," says Antun. Nikola named his children after the people who gave him a new life, and he passed away in 1986.
"My father had two brothers and three sisters in Herzegovina. Here, he embraced the Šokac way of life. People accepted and respected him as one of their own, and the Herzegovinians also considered him theirs. He wore a Šokac hat and a knitted vest. Today, I am both a Herzegovinian and a Šokac at the same time. That makes me very happy."
A moving story of return is brought by the testimony of Stjepan Sosa Marangun, a boy who returned to his birthplace after eleven years. Mario Bušić, president of the Grude branch of Matica hrvatska, with the consent of Stjepan's descendants, recounts: "Stjepan is one of the 17,000 children that Friar Didak Buntić saved from certain death by starvation. Besides Catholic children, there were also Orthodox and Muslim children."
At the age of eight, Stjepan was taken to Slavonia, where he was placed with a family that accepted him, educated him, and trained him as a carpenter. "Until his death, he was a master carpenter," emphasizes Bušić. As a young adult, at around 19, he returned by train to Mostar and walked on foot towards his native Gorica. At a water spring in his village, he met an elderly woman. After he introduced himself, a scene followed that Bušić describes in his short story "Friar Didak's Marangun":
"The woman stood as if rooted to the ground. She could not utter a word, just stared at this handsome young man with wide-open eyes, without blinking or any confusion. It lasted a few seconds, and then a mother's soul stirred. She fell to her knees, and long, large tears streamed from her eyes."
It was his mother. "There is no house that was not touched by hunger. Herzegovinians can never thank the Slavonians enough. Since Friar Didak's time, Herzegovina and Slavonia have become one body. This act binds these two Croatian regions with heart and soul," Bušić conveys.
The story of Friar Didak and his mission holds a special place in this year's theme of the 61st Vinkovci Autumns, "The Train of the Slavonian Plain." Friar Marinko Šakota thanks the organizers: "Thank you to the Vinkovci Autumns for providing this opportunity for people to learn about this man and his mission, the bond between Slavonia and Herzegovina, which highlights the value of people who were open-hearted and received the Herzegovinian children."
The character of Friar Didak Buntić will be portrayed at the opening ceremony by Robert Pehar, an actor from the Croatian National Theatre in Mostar and a member of the organizational team of the Days of Friar Didak Buntić, held in early October, on the day of his birth, October 9. "He was a builder, a spiritual leader of the Herzegovinian Franciscans, but also a political representative who served in the Assembly. He was also a teacher, he taught Herzegovina to read and write. He insisted that girls go to school at all costs because the mother is the child's first and main teacher," Pehar points out, adding that Friar Didak did not send messages but reacted directly, going from house to house and asking where the problem was.
At the Vinkovci Autumns on September 18, the Didak Ethno Group will also perform, eight young women who preserve the tradition of the Broćan region, further strengthening the bond between these two Croatian regions that was forged over a hundred years ago by one Franciscan's humanity and perseverance.
