Mirjana Babunovic Dimitrijevic

Mirjana was the second of three children born to well-to-do Serbian parents in the capital of Bosnia, in central Yugoslavia. Her father was a successful businessman and prominent Serbian nationalist. Like her parents, Mirjana was baptized in the Serbian Orthodox faith. Mirjana attended elementary school in the multi-ethnic city of Sarajevo.

1933-39: While in secondary school, Mirjana studied foreign languages and toured western Europe. In 1938 she graduated. That fall she enrolled as a student of English and English literature at the University of Belgrade. While at the university she became engaged to Radoje Dimitrijevic from Macedonia, a fellow student who was studying to be a civil engineer.

1940-44: Mirjana married her fiance in 1940. The Germans bombed Belgrade on Palm Sunday, April 6, 1941. When the Germans invaded, Mirjana and Radoje left for Macedonia. Two years later, Mirjana returned to live with her mother in Sarajevo, which was controlled by a pro-German Croatian fascist regime. In early 1944 Croatian police arrested Mirjana, her mother and her aunt because they were Serbs. After refusing to convert to Roman Catholicism, Mirjana was deported to Jasenovac, a Croatian-run concentration camp.

Mirjana perished in Jasenovac in late 1944. She was 23 years old.