A photographer from Jablanica, Dženad Džino discovered remains and items on Mt. Prenj that could belong to Ilija Španović, a national hero from World War II. He shared the entire story on his YouTube channel.
He said he had been searching for two years for a place where history was left unfinished.
“Every piece of land I dug up was a sign of hope that I would piece together the mosaic. This was not simply a search, but a duty to a man and to history that cannot remain untold. When I found the boot, I knew it was the moment when Prenj gave up its secrets,” he said.
Džino documented the entire process with his camera and recorded a video showing how he found shell casings, fragments of Italian hand grenades, and other items that could belong to Španović.
Džino also found a button, which he said could have come from Ilija Španović’s greatcoat.
“And here is a buckle. This is also something military. I am not sure, but I think this is a good sign. This is definitely the place where the uniform rotted. I do not know to whom it belongs. One has rotted here, and that one surely belongs to Ilija Španović,” he said in the video.
All the aforementioned items were found close together. In a video, he said he called his friend, an expert on World War II artifacts, who told him that all these items are definitely a trouser buckle, while the greatcoat button is from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia era.
He also found a shoe sole, and also other parts of footwear, as well as bones that, according to him, belong to Ilija Španović.
“Human bones found inside a boot. Fingers. I found the remains of the national hero. I found the remains of Ilija Španović on April 12, 2026. After 83 years and a month, they are in the same place. Chetniks were here, they let the Partisans pass, and Ilija Španović died here. His body is here. This is the main reason why he was not buried. His body remained in front of Chetnik positions, and the Partisans were not allowed to go near it,” he said.
He left the bones where he found them and will inform the police about everything. He added that he believes there is enough material for DNA analysis.
Ilija Španović was born on April 30, 1918, and died on Mt. Prenj during the Second World War in 1943. He was a member of the National Liberation Struggle and a national hero of Yugoslavia. He was killed during the Fourth Enemy Offensive when, after crossing the Neretva River on March 10, 1943, his battalion was suddenly attacked by Chetnik forces on Mount Prenj.
By decree of the Presidium of the National Assembly of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia, on December 20, 1951, Španović was proclaimed a People’s Hero, Klix.ba writes.
