Sculpted by Vanja Radauš in 1952 this is a good example of the heroic style of statuary fashionable in the years just after World War II. The monument was originally intended for the French town of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, site of a famous mutiny of Croatian and Bosnian troops then serving in the SS in 1943. Unwilling to see it sent to France, however, Yugoslav leaders repurposed Radauš’s work and placed it here instead.

Behind the monument is a row of busts honouring various Istrian antifascists, including Vladimir Gortan (1904-1929), the Croatian patriotic activist whose execution in Pula by Italian authorities became an international cause celebre.

Practical Info

The monument is in Titov Park, 200m southwest of the Roman arena.