Milica Popovic Kuhn

Milica Popovic Kuhn

Born: 1895

Sremska Mitrovica, Yugoslavia

Milica was the fourth of nine children born to Serbian Orthodox landowners in the Croatian part of Yugoslavia. In 1922 Milica married Milan Kuhn, a Catholic Serb, in a Serbian Orthodox ceremony, and the couple moved to the Macedonian part of Yugoslavia, where Milan was working on hydroelectric projects. In 1932 the couple returned with their young daughter to live in northern Yugoslavia.

1933-39: The Kuhns lived in the city of Zrenjanin in the Vojvodina region where Milan worked as a hydroengineer responsible for protecting the region from flooding. Milica enjoyed cooking and hosting dinner parties. She also worked at home restoring antique furniture. Her specialties were Louis XVI and Chippendale styles. In 1938 the family moved to the city of Novi Sad.

1940-44: On March 27, 1941, two days after Yugoslavia concluded an alliance treaty with Germany, Serbian army officers overthrew the Yugoslav government. On April 6 Germany invaded Yugoslavia. Four days later, Croatian fascists came to power in Croatia, including in Sremska Mitrovica, where the Kuhns were then living. The new government targeted Serbs, Jews and Roma (Gypsies) as enemies. After anti-Serb laws were enacted, Milica was forcibly converted to Roman Catholicism and made to remarry her husband in a Catholic ceremony.

On February 3, 1942, Milica and her husband were machine-gunned to death together in Srem by Croatian fascists. She was 46 years old.

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