Also known as Новомученици Дабробосански и Милешевски
A synaxis of clergy, monastics and laypeople of the Dabar-Bosnia and Mileševa regions killed during the Second World War and the postwar communist period.
Feast Day
June 28
Draft
Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.
The New Martyrs of Dabar-Bosnia and Mileševa are a collective commemoration of clergy, monastics, and laypeople of the Dabar-Bosnia and Mileševa regions of the Serbian Orthodox Church who were killed during the Second World War and the postwar communist period. The dossier dates their suffering to the years 1941 to 1946.
Rather than a single individual, the commemoration gathers a synaxis of victims drawn from the episcopal jurisdictions of Dabar-Bosnia and Mileševa. They are venerated together as New Martyrs, a designation the Serbian Orthodox Church applies to those who suffered for the faith during the upheavals of the twentieth century.
Timeline 3 moments
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1941Onset of persecutionWith the outbreak of the Second World War, clergy and monastics of the Dabar-Bosnia and Mileševa regions were killed. Among those who died in 1941 were Nestor, hegumen of Mileševa Monastery, and Seraphim, hegumen of the Monastery of the Holy Trinity of Pljevlja.
1941Death of Metropolitan Petar ZimonjićPetar Zimonjić, metropolitan of Dabar and Bosnia, was arrested on 12 May 1941 and, after imprisonment, died according to testimony at the Jasenovac concentration camp. He was canonized by the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1998.
1945Continued martyrdomsThe killings extended into the closing and postwar period of the war; Budimir of Dobrun died in 1945. The dossier records the full span of the synaxis as 1941 to 1946, covering both the wartime occupation and the early communist era.
Contributions & Legacy
2 contributions
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Named members
The collective commemoration includes several named figures. Nestor of Mileševa was hegumen of Mileševa Monastery, venerated as a New Venerable Hieromartyr; Seraphim was hegumen of the Monastery of the Holy Trinity of Pljevlja, likewise a New Venerable Hieromartyr; and Budimir of Dobrun is named as a New Hieromartyr among the group.
Metropolitan Petar Zimonjić of Dabar and Bosnia is associated with the synaxis as its leading figure. Born in 1866 in Grahovo, Montenegro, he was appointed metropolitan in 1920 and killed in 1941.
Veneration
The martyrs are commemorated within the liturgical calendar of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Their commemoration was associated with the date of 28 June (Old Style), corresponding to 11 July (New Style); the diocesan observance was subsequently moved to early July. The first liturgical and all-diocesan assembly in their memory was held on 17 July 2021 at the monastery of Vozučica near Zavidovići.
Their companions & kin
Leading figure of the synaxis; killed 1941, canonized 1998.
Metropolitan Petar Zimonjić of Dabar and Bosnia
Hegumen of Mileševa Monastery; died 1941.
Nestor of Mileševa
Hegumen of the Monastery of the Holy Trinity of Pljevlja; died 1941.
Seraphim of Pljevlja
New Hieromartyr among the group; died 1945.
Budimir of Dobrun
Notes
Killed 1941–1946. Collective commemoration; named members include Sts Nestor of Mileševa, Budimir of Dobrun, and Seraphim of Pljevlja.
