Stanko Paunović Veljko

Born on 16 October 1907 in Brestovac near Negotin, a metal worker and communist activist from his youth. Sentenced in 1929 to 16 years in prison, he escaped from Sremska Mitrovica prison on 22 August 1941 and became political commissar of the staff of the partisan detachments of Srem. His nom de guerre came from the hajduk leader Hajduk Veljko.

He was killed at Stručica in Rakovac during the breakout from the encirclement of Fruška Gora in August 1942 and was proclaimed a People’s Hero on 25 October 1943. First buried at the site, he was later moved to the Memorial Cemetery in Sremska Mitrovica. A street in Rakovac bears his name. See Stručica memorial.