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Vukašin Mandrapa
Vukašin Mandrapa
	Fresco of Vukašin Jasenovački in Saint Sava Temple in Belgrade
Born	Date unknown; Location unknown
Died	1942/1943; Jasenovac, Independent State of Croatia
Canonized	1998

Vukašin Mandrapa (Serbian Cyrillic: Вукашин Мандрапа; died 1942/43) is a saint and a martyr of the Serbian Orthodox Church canonized as Saint Vukašin of Klepci (Свети Вукашин из Клепаца). Due to a lack of historical evidence, his existence is disputed.

Even among those affirming Mandrapa's existence, there's a dispute about his surname and origin. Several sources claim his surname was Toholj, and some claim he was from the village of Lokve and not Klepci. The year of his death is also a matter of dispute, as some state he died in 1942^[1] or 1943.^{[citation needed]} According to one story, Vukašin was a farmer and merchant, born in Klepci.^[2] Historian Ivo Rendić-Miočević emphasises that there are is no historical evidence of Mandrapa's existence,^[3]^[4] while Serbian philosopher Aleksandar Pražić holds that the whole story about Mandrapa was made up.^[5]

He and his family lived in Sarajevo and then returned to Klepci, but were arrested and sent to the Independent State of Croatia's Jasenovac death camp.^{[citation needed]} Mandrapa was listed among the victims of Jasenovac in 2007 by the Serbian Fond for the Research of Genocide in Jasenovac.

According to testimony given in 1970 by neuropsychiatrist Nede Zec who was detained in Jasenovac, Mandrapa was singled out by a Croatian Ustaše, surnamed Friganović (first name Josip or Mile), who had observed his stoic behaviour during the forced labour days and the slaughter of prisoners at night.^[6] During one night when prison guards made bets as to who could slaughter the most inmates, Friganović allegedly attempted to compel Mandrapa to bless the Ustaše leader Ante Pavelić. Mandrapa refused to do so, even after Friganović had allegedly cut off both his ears and nose after each refusal.^[7]

"And when I ordered him for the fourth time to shout "Long live Pavelić!" and threatened to take his heart out with a knife, he looked at me, and by somehow looking through me and over me into uncertainty, he slowly and clearly said, "just [you] do your job, child."^[8]

The executor then allegedly cut out Mandrapa's eyes, tore out his heart, and slashed his throat.^[9]^[10] Pražić thinks Zec made up the story.^[5]

References

^ Logos, Aleksandar A. "Jasenovac in Croatia or a short story about a war and mass killing in it". pp. 38, 40 Neuropsychiatrist Nedeljko Nedo Zec was a "free prisoner" in the Jasenovac camp and he retold the testimony of an Ustasha. In January 1943, the executor said: "In August [1942], ... I walked up to him and found out that he was Vukašin [Mandrapa] from the village of Klepci near Čapljina [the Neretva River Valley], ... I... Cut his throat from ear to ear and threw him into the pit.". Retrieved 2023-02-05.
^ Miletić, Antun. "Zver umorna od klanja!", novosti.rs; accessed 16 April 2018. (in Serbian)
^ Rendić, Ivo (13 August 2015). "Osvrt na kanonizaciju Svetoga Novomučenika Vukašina Jasenovačkoga i blaženoga Alojzija Stepinca". Retrieved 13 August 2015.
^ Šarac, Damir (27 February 2017). "Srbi se protive kanonizaciji Stepinca, a svecima proglašavaju likove iz bajki: pročitajte poremećenu priču o pravoslavnom svecu koji je zaustavio hrvatskog koljača Žilu". Retrieved 27 June 2018.
^ ^a ^b Pražić, Aleksandar (2009). Nacionalno samoubistvo [National suicide] (in Serbian). Belgrade.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ "New Martyr Vukašin of Klepci", pemptousia.com; accessed 16 April 2018.
^ Avro Manhattan, The Vatican's Holocaust, p. 48.
^ Logos, Aleksandar A. "Jasenovac in Croatia or a short story about war and mass killing in it". p. 40. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
^ Avro Manhattan, The Vatican's Holocaust, p. 48.
^ Logos, Aleksandar A. "Jasenovac in Croatia or a short story about war and mass killing in it". p. 40 The executor said: "But then something broke within me and I could no longer kill that night... Many Ustashas looked directly into the eyes or bodies of the victims (children, women and men) and some of them probably had problems because of what they were doing. According to Andrija Hebrang, some of the executors of killings were sent to the mental institution for specialist treatment.". Retrieved 2023-02-05.