Pakrac is a town in western Slavonia, Croatia, population 4,842, total municipality population 8,460 (census 2011). Pakrac is located on the road and railroad connecting the regions of Posavina and Podravina.
Name
In Croatian the town is known as Pakrac, in German as Pakratz, in Hungarian as Pakrác.
History
The town was first mentioned in 1237. It was captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1543. It was initially a kaza centre in the Sanjak of Pojega between 1543 and 1552, then in the Sanjak of Pakrac in the Rumelia Eyalet between 1552 and 1559. Later it was the centre of the Sanjak of Pakrac between 1559 and 1601, when the sanjak seat was moved to Cernik. The Ottoman rule in Pakrac lasted until the Austrians captured it in 1691. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Pakrac was part of the Požega County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia.
Hostilities during the Yugoslav wars in Pakrac began on August 18, 1991, when Serb troops shelled the town from positions in the nearby hills. The Croats in Pakrac quickly organized in self-defense units. In a ceasefire signed in January 1992, the town was divided into Croatian and Serbian sectors. UNPROFOR was stationed at the demarcation line. In the Serbian part of Pakrac, Krajina Serb military leadership operated the Bučje concentration camp (18 km outside Pakrac), where Croat civilians and Serbs who opposed the Krajina government were imprisoned and killed. In early May 1995, east Pakrac was retaken by Croats in Operation Flash in the last phase of the Croatian War of Independence. Serbs who were living in east Pakrac soon left the area in large numbers.
Demographics
In the census of 1991, the municipality of Pakrac (today cities Pakrac and Lipik) encompassed a different, larger area and its population was as follows:
In the census of 2011, the municipality of Pakrac comprised:
Settlements
The municipality consists of 42 settlements:
Politics
Minority councils
Directly elected minority councils and representatives are tasked with consulting tasks for the local or regional authorities in which they are advocating for minority rights and interests, integration into public life and participation in the management of local affairs. At the 2023 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives elections Czechs (elected 13 members), Serbs and Italians of Croatia each fulfilled legal requirements to elect 15 members minority councils of the Town of Pakrac.
Sports
The local chapter of the HPS is HPD "Psunj", which had 80 members in 1936 under the Josip Svoboda presidency. It organised 35 expeditions in 1937.: 247 Membership rose to 94 in 1938.: 247
Notable people from Pakrac
- Ivan Šreter, Croatian physician who was persecuted by Yugoslav authorities for using the Croatian language.He was killed in 1991 by Serbs in the Croatian War of Independence.
- Zlatko Aleksovski, Bosnian-Croat prison commander and convicted war criminal
- Smilja Avramov, Serbian international law expert
- Zoran Erceg, Serbian basketball player
- Jadranka Kosor, former Prime Minister of Croatia
- Žarko Potočnjak, Croatian theatre, television and film actor.
- Sven Lasta, Croatian television and film actor.
- Slobodan Selenić, Serbian writer.
- Đorđe Bogić, Serbian Orthodox priest
- Saša Krajnović, Serbian footballer
- Zoran Popović, Serbian footballer
References
Sources
- Erikson, Kai (2017). The Sociologist's Eye: Reflections on Social Life. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300231776.
External links
- Official website (in Croatian)
