Kusonje

Kusonje is a village in Croatia in the Town of Pakrac, Požega-Slavonia County. It is connected by the D38 highway. Kusonje was the place of Ustasha massacre of ethnic Serb civilians in 1942. During the Croatian War of Independence in 1991, 20 Croatian policemen and soldiers were ambushed and killed in the village.

Kusonje
Village
Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint George in Kusonje was built in 1732–34 and destroyed in 1942 by Croat ustashe[2]
Coordinates: 45°28′N 17°14′E
Country Croatia
CountyPožega-Slavonia
TownPakrac
Population
 (2011)
 • Total308
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
34550 Pakrac

Demographics

According to the 2011 population census,[3] the village of Kusonje had 308 inhabitants. This represents 27.97% of its pre-war population according to the 1991 census.


Population by ethnicity[3][4]:

Year of censustotalSerbsCroatsYugoslavsothers
2011308187 (60.71%)101 (32.79%)-20 (6.49%)
2001200n/an/a-n/a
19911 101891 (80.93%)99 (8.99%)72 (6.54%)39 (3.54%)
19811 047685 (65.43%)96 (9.17%)247 (23.59%)19 (1.81%)
1971744605 (81.32%)123 (16.53%)4 (0.54%)12 (1.61%)
1961658555 (84.35%)86 (13.07%)1 (0.15%)16 (2.43%)


Population change 1857-2011 [3][5]

History

Kusonje was part of Croatian medieval state. In 1543, Kusonje and the nearby town of Pakrac were conquered by the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman rule lasted until it was seized and reconquered by the Austrians in 1691. Village had Serbian ethnic majority. On August 13, 1942, the croat Ustashe took the Serbian inhabitants of this village to the village church. After they pushed them inside, they locked the church from the outside, and then set it on fire. In that way, 473 Serbs died. Those who did not stop at the church were slaughtered and thrown into nearby wells.

In 1991, war broke out in Croatia, of which Kusonje and Pakrac were a part. The Yugoslav People's Army captured the town in March 1991, but it was soon retaken by Croatian forces.

See also

References
  1. "Dan kada su Kusonje prepolovljene / "The day when Kusonje population was halved"". portalnovosti.com (in Croatian). 28 August 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  2. "Dan kada su Kusonje prepolovljene / "The day when Kusonje population was halved"". portalnovosti.com (in Croatian). 28 August 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  3. "Population by Age and Sex, by Settlements, 2011 Census: Kusonje". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012.
  4. Izdanje Državnog zavoda za statistiku RH: Narodnosni sastav stanovništva RH od 1880-1991. godine.
  5. Naselja i stanovništvo Republike Hrvatske 1857-2001, www.dzs.hr
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