Boško Buha

Boško Buha
Born	1926
Died	1943
Allegiance	Yugoslav Partisans

Boško Buha (Serbian: Бошко Буха; 1926–1943) was a young Yugoslav Partisan and one of the greatest icons of World War II in Yugoslavia.

Early life

Boško Buha was born into a Croatian Serb family in the Slavonian village of Gradina, near Virovitica in today's Croatia. In 1941, after the Axis invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia, his family was targeted by the Ustasha and had to seek shelter in Serbia.

Career

Buha eventually reached territory under Partisan control. There he tried to join the Partisans, but he was rejected due to his young age (at the time he was only 15). After a few attempts, he managed to con his way into the Partisans and took part in active combat. In 1942 he joined the 2nd Proletarian Brigade of YNLA. Soon he developed a talent for sneaking towards enemy bunkers and destroying them with hand grenades (as part of the Bombaši). His talent and bravery almost immediately became stuff of legends and his unit, which had many young men and teenagers, was nicknamed the "Partisan Artillery". In late 1942 Buha was publicly commended by Tito.

A year later, Boško Buha died when the truck he was in got ambushed by the Chetniks. After the war Boško Buha received the title of People's Hero of Yugoslavia.

Legacy

A theatre house in Belgrade is named after him. In 1979, the Croatian director Branko Bauer made a film about his life.

References

• "Narodni heroji Jugoslavije", Mladost, Beograd, 1975 (Serbian)
• Buha Rada Boško at www.znaci.net (Croatian)