Serbian WW2 War Medal Identification Help

[Masurian's daughter]

My grandma at 15 fought for the Yugosla Partisans during WW2 in Serbia, she never told us about this period of her life, after the war she ran a female orphanage pictured in the black and white photo with her uniform. She was included in several WW2 parades thrown by the Serbian government. That's really the extent of my information on her, would love any help in identifying the medals and maybe were to look for more information!

[Lukasz Gaszewski]

On the left side there are two Orders of Bravery, Medal of Bravery and star of the Order of Republic (the class is impossible to tell with that resolution). On the right side there is the medal "Freedom to People - Death to Fascism", the medal "10 Years of Yugoslav Army" and two Russian commemorative medals for WWII. On the jacket lapel there is the Order of Labour, most probably 3rd class. The two remaining medal are too indistinct to tell.

[BalkanCollector]

Thank you for sharing your grandma's history with us!

Here's her medals, there are some that I can't identify but I'm sure they are related to association of fighters.

1 - ?
2 - Russian medal for 65 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War
3 - 10 years of Yugoslav People's Army
4 - Russian medal for 50 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War
5 - This medal was originaly awarded to foreigners in Yugoslav Partisans but it was later given by SUBNOR (association of fighter) so your grandma received it from them
6 - Order of Labour with Silver Wreath (3rd class) 
7 - Order for Bravery
8 - Medal for Bravery
9 - ?
10 - Order for Bravery 
11 - Order of Republic with Bronze Wreath (3rd class)

On 11/03/2020 at 04:39, Masurian's daughter said:

Is your grandma the one in uniform and medals? If so, she's wearing an Order for Bravery and Medal for Bravery(from left to right). Also, by the insignia, we can tell that she was a political officer in the rank of potporučnik (2nd Lieutenant) if I'm seeing it right. 

[Paul R]

I can’t tell.  Does she have these on her jacket? 

[BalkanCollector]

3 hours ago, Paul R said:

I can’t tell.  Does she have these on her jacket? 

Only Medal for Bravery.

[Paul R]

Thank you. 

[Masurian's daughter]

On 13/03/2020 at 12:04, BalkanCollector said:

Thank you for sharing your grandma's history with us!

Here's her medals, there are some that I can't identify but I'm sure they are related to association of fighters.

1 - ?
2 - Russian medal for 65 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War
3 - 10 years of Yugoslav People's Army
4 - Russian medal for 50 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War
5 - This medal was originaly awarded to foreigners in Yugoslav Partisans but it was later given by SUBNOR (association of fighter) so your grandma received it from them
6 - Order of Labour with Silver Wreath (3rd class) 
7 - Order for Bravery
8 - Medal for Bravery
9 - ?
10 - Order for Bravery 
11 - Order of Republic with Bronze Wreath (3rd class)

Is your grandma the one in uniform and medals? If so, she's wearing an Order for Bravery and Medal for Bravery(from left to right). Also, by the insignia, we can tell that she was a political officer in the rank of potporučnik (2nd Lieutenant) if I'm seeing it right. 

Thank you so much for the insight! I have close ups of medals 1 & 9, and it looks like medal 1 is something from the U.K. ? (I'm not sure why she would have a medal from Queen Elizabeth in Serbia?) and medal 9 looks like it commemorates the 50th anniversary of the war. Close ups are below. 

 

 

She does have two of the medals you referenced on her jacket!

Close ups of the blue-striped ribbon medal, and the star medal are below. 

She escaped the Nazis when they came for her family at age 15 by running into the forest where she became a machine-gunner with The Partisans, at some point, while still a teenager, she was wounded by being shot in the stomach and falling into a river, somehow she survived. I believe the medals for bravery are in reference to that. Her maiden name was: Zorica Ibročić : 1928–2018 (BIRTH 14 JUN 1928 • Irig, Yugoslavia/DEATH 12 DEC 2018 • Belgrade, Serbia.) Does any one have any leads on where to find more information about her service? I'm not sure what kind of records were kept and what has survived.

[BalkanCollector]

Thank you for additional info and photos, I really love them!

That queen Elizabeth medal is beyond my expertise and it's very rare to see a Yugoslav awarded with it.

The medal marked with the red arrow is 50 years of the Battle of Batina commemoration medal. You can read about the battle here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Batina

The Yugoslav partisan 51st Vojvodina Division fought in this battle so she was a soldier of this division. The following brigades fought in the battle and she must have been in one of them:

7th Vojvodina Brigade
8th Vojvodina Brigade
12th Vojvodina Brigade
14th Vojvodina Brigade
Artillery Brigade of 51st Vojvodina Division

On the first photo of your grandma she doesn't wear the order marked below. It's the Order for Merits for the People 3rd class.

10 hours ago, Masurian's daughter said:

Her maiden name was: Zorica Ibročić : 1928–2018 (BIRTH 14 JUN 1928 • Irig, Yugoslavia/DEATH 12 DEC 2018 • Belgrade, Serbia.) Does any one have any leads on where to find more information about her service? I'm not sure what kind of records were kept and what has survived.

I think you've misspelled her surname, it's most likely Ibričić. As for the records, her local veteran (SUBNOR) association probably has some info about her so the best shot is to ask for their help. Also, I think the best shot is to use her husband's surname if she changed her maiden's surname when she got married, or try to use both of those surnames. You can post her other surname here and maybe I can find her name mentioned in some of the books about partisan units that are available online in Serbo-Croatian language. 

[Masurian's daughter]

On 02/08/2020 at 04:11, BalkanCollector said:

Thank you for additional info and photos, I really love them!

That queen Elizabeth medal is beyond my expertise and it's very rare to see a Yugoslav awarded with it.

The medal marked with the red arrow is 50 years of the Battle of Batina commemoration medal. You can read about the battle here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Batina

The Yugoslav partisan 51st Vojvodina Division fought in this battle so she was a soldier of this division. The following brigades fought in the battle and she must have been in one of them:

7th Vojvodina Brigade
8th Vojvodina Brigade
12th Vojvodina Brigade
14th Vojvodina Brigade
Artillery Brigade of 51st Vojvodina Division

On the first photo of your grandma she doesn't wear the order marked below. It's the Order for Merits for the People 3rd class.

I think you've misspelled her surname, it's most likely Ibričić. As for the records, her local veteran (SUBNOR) association probably has some info about her so the best shot is to ask for their help. Also, I think the best shot is to use her husband's surname if she changed her maiden's surname when she got married, or try to use both of those surnames. You can post her other surname here and maybe I can find her name mentioned in some of the books about partisan units that are available online in Serbo-Croatian language. 

Thank you so much for your help! Her maiden surname (she was 15 when she started fighting with the Partisans and escaped the Nazis coming to her home and taking her father and brother by jumping out a window and running into the forest) I believe is the correct last name as it is copied from Zorica's daughter's (my mother's tree) on Ancestry.Com, but I can double check? Her married name is Djukic. She married Vojislav Djukic, who became the Serbian ambassador to Argentina, and met Zorica when he came back to Serbia. Vojislav was born Feb 27, 1928 in Senta, Yugoslavia and died on November 12, 1978 of a heart attack in Horgos, Hungary. Zorica's father was Stevan Ibročić but do not have her mother's name as she died very young and her father re-married (I guess several times?) This was a scandal because after WWII Zorica's father came back from the forced work sites??? camps??? farms??? with a new wife, while Zorica's stepmother was still alive. She cut most ties to her father after that. 

[BalkanCollector]

No problem, I'm glad I could help.

As for her surname, you might be right. The common version is Ibričić but your grandma's surname Ibročić could be some rare variation.