Rajka Baković (September 2, 1920 – December 29, 1941) was a Croatian student and a member of the anti-fascist resistance movement in the Nazi-puppet state of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). She and her sister, Zdenka (collectively known as the Baković sisters), used their family newsstand at Nikolićeva Street No. 7 in Zagreb as a hub for connection of members of the resistance at the beginning of World War II.
The Ustasha Surveillance Service (UNS) arrested Rajka and her sister and tortured them for five days. Rajka was taken to the hospital on December 24, 1941, while Zdenka, distraught after finding out Rajka had been taken away, died after throwing herself out of a window. Rajka died on December 29, 1941, as a result of injuries sustained during torture. She was honored as a People's Hero of Yugoslavia.
Early life and education
Rajka Baković was born on September 2, 1920, in the Bolivian mining town of Oruro to a wealthy family of emigrants from the Croatian island of Brač. Her father, Franjo Baković and his brother owned a hotel and shop. The family returned to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1921 for the education of their children Ivo (1915), Zdenka (1918), Jerko (1916), Mladen (1919), and Rajka. After finishing elementary school in Brač, Rajka's family moved to the Croatian capital of Zagreb, where her father bought a three-story building at 25 Gundulićeva Street.
Rajka started showing her left-wing (leftist) orientation during high school by joining the Youth of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia in 1938. Her sister Zdenka, brothers Jerko and Mladen, and mother were also leftists. They were very active in organizations of the labour movements, such as the League of Communists of Yugoslavia and the United Federation of Workers' Unions of Yugoslavia, as well as many other women and student organizations. Rajka soon became known to communists in Zagreb. The building of the Baković family became a gathering place for the left-oriented youth, workers, and intellectuals. After the death of her father Franjo in 1939, the Baković family fell into financial difficulties. They bought a newsstand at 7 Nikolićeva street next to the former cinema that became the Zagreb youth Theatre. In 1941 Rajka enrolled at the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, where she studied Romance studies.
After the outbreak of the World War II, the Invasion of Yugoslavia, and consequent establishment of the Nazi puppet state as the Independent State of Croatia in 1941, Rajka was at a risk of being arrested as a prominent leftist so she returned to Brač. An Italian citizen, she could be relatively safe until the end of the war. She eventually went back to Zagreb because she could not stay calm while listening to the news about persecutions of opponents of the regime that were happening there.
Activities in the resistance movement
From the start of the war, the Baković family newsstand was a central hub for the connection of members of the Zagreb resistance movement. They would leave letters or packages to arrange meetings, and it was a place of supply for the League of Communists of Croatia, where Jerko worked. Rajka was a confidential courier of the resistance movement and was responsible for the delivery of mail to Belgrade and other cities. Zdenka participated in actions of the Youth of the League of Communists such as Burning of the Maksimir stadium in 1941. The Baković family's work did not remain unnoticed. After one courier from the Local Committee of the League of Communists in Dalmatia was caught and tortured, he revealed where he was carrying the letters.