Causes of Death in the Parish Vojakovac near Križevci from 1900 to 1914, 1941 to 1945, and 1949 to 2015

Abstract

Vojakovac is the centre of a small parish located north of Križevci, on the southern slopes of Kalnik. The Orthodox population settled in that area in larger numbers during the 16th century. The author offers an overview of the demographic development of the parish Vojakovac, and concludes that the number of Serbs in the parish fell during the 20th century due to World War II related deaths, migration to larger urban areas, assimilation, and ethnomimicry. He also presents information on the causes of death in the parish in various periods during the 20th century. This data was drawn from registers of deaths of the parish Vojakovac, which are kept in the Archive of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana in Zagreb. The author also examines customs related to death and dying in the foothills of Kalnik and in the Podravina region, among both Serbs and Croats.

Keywords

• serbs; vojakovac; koprivnica-križevci county; križevci; customs