Donje Dubrave

Donje Dubrave was first mentioned in 1658. It was settled by Orthodox immigrants from Bosnia, which was under Ottoman occupation. The people were very loyal to the Austrian Empire. They were predominantly soldiers defending their new land from Ottoman incursions.

On 10 April 1941, the telegraph station at Donje Dubrave received news that the Wehrmacht had entered Zagreb along with the request that railway workers continue to operate their stations, in exchange for twice the pay, signed by a certain Marković. The same day, the Croatian flag was observed flying on the municipal (Croatian: općina) building in Donje Dubrave.^{[3]: 346, 347}

The first foreign troops to arrive in Donje Dubrave were from the Royal Italian Army, on 12 April. Germans went through later.^[3]: 347

On 21 April, Jandre Jaković was arrested, ostensibly for belonging to a Chetnik organisation. When Franjo Ahil came to transport him to prison, he left him by a well unbound, so Jaković was able to escape. This was the first arrest in Donje Dubrave.^[3]: 352

In May, the Ustaša government began targeting known and suspected JRZ members with arrests. The only prominent JRZ member in Dubrave at the time was Simo Vučinić.^[3]: 352

For fear of imprisonment or deportation, most Serb males aged 16 and up slept at night in the forest in those months. According to Milan Jaković, it was sufficient to go 100 metres (330 ft) from house or road fore safety from the Ustaše.^[3]: 367

On 30 July, many Serb villagers of Dubrave were arrested at the market in Ogulin, having come there to sell, including Mihajlo Jaković of Donje Dubrave, acting against the advice of his father Simo. Beginning with the next market on 6 August, the Serbs stopped coming out of fear that it would happen a third time.^[3]: 361

On 8 July 1942, a train derailed between Generalski Stol and Donje Dubrave, resulting in the destruction of 3 wagons and 2 locomotives. Then on the 10th, a passenger train between Donje and Gornje Dubrave was derailed by a section of destroyed track, destroying both its locomotives. The armoured train could not come to its assistance because on the same day, another passenger train was derailed between Generalski Stol and Donje Dubrave. Partisans emptied 2 wagons. Among the dead there were 2 Ustaše, while the fate of another officer and soldier who had been on board remained unknown.^[4]

Donje Dubrave is in the hilly region of western Kordun. A few kilometers to the east is the Mrežnica River, where there is a Croatian nature park with impressive waterfalls.

As of 2011, the village had 199 residents.^[5] This represents 58.19% of its pre-war population according to the 1991 census.

• Rade Janjanin (1919-1943) - antifascist and People's Hero of Yugoslavia
• Đuro Zatezalo (-2017) - historian^[7] and former Director of Karlovac Archives (1965-1992)