Jesih Dragutin

Jesih, Dragutin Dr. Dragutin Jesih, a Catholic priest, was born in Croatia in 1895, and studied for the priesthood at the Saint Francis Seminary in Wisconsin. He served as a priest in the United States until 1933, during which time he wrote several books and many articles. When he returned to Croatia, he served as a cleric in different churches throughout the country. During the years 1941-1944, Jesih helped many Jewish families persecuted by the Germans and the Ustaše. Among those he assisted was the family of Milivoj Radičević, who was born in Zagreb in 1931. Milivoj’s father, Miroslav, had changed the family name from Fuchs to Radičević following the German invasion of Yugoslavia. He was arrested early in the war, and a relative of his approached the archbishop of Zagreb and asked him to help hide his family. The bishop referred the relative to Dragutin Jesih, who was serving as a priest in Šćitarjevo, near Zagreb. Jesih immediately agreed to assist the Jews and hid Miroslav’s wife, Erna, and ten-year-old Milivoj, among others, in the cellar of the church, taking care of all their needs. One night in November 1944, Ustaša members entered Jesih’s apartment in his church and took Jesih away in the direction of the Sava River. His mutilated body was found floating in the river the next morning. That night, local villagers helped the Jews hidden in the church flee on horse-drawn carts to the Olex factory, owned by Franjo Sopianac* in the village of Sveta Klara, where they remained for a number of months. For two years, Jesih had cared for his wards devotedly and never expected any compensation for his courageous deeds. He ultimately paid with his life for his actions. After the war, Milivoj Radičević (later Dan Baram) immigrated with his parents to Israel. On September 1, 1992, Yad Vashem recognized Dragutin Jesih as Righteous Among the Nations.