Welcome back to Weird Wednesday, horror fiends, friends, and family. In today’s excursion, we travel halfway around the world to Croatia, to a tiny place called Daksa Island.
Daksa Island is north of Dubrovnik, and in the distant past, had been home to Franciscan monks, dating back to 1291. For hundreds of years, the tiny island had stood for peace and tranquility, until the devastation of World War II arrived on its shores.
In 1944, Partisans entered the city and arrested more than 300 civilians, many leaders of the small community. This included priests, businessmen, and politicians. Almost none of these people had anything to do with the war crimes of 1941, but this was not heeded. Instead, they were declared to be in collaboration with the Nazi’s.
On the October 24, dozens of these civilians were taken to Daksa Island, this would be the sad end for them. The first victims were 3 Franciscan monks; each killed after being forced to dig their grave. Dozens of men would fall that night, and for several more nights after. Each shot in the back in cold blood.
On October 29, posters were hung in the city, declaring that 36 civilians had been tried and found guilty; their sentence was decreed to be executed by firing squad. Later, it was discovered that a trial had never been held, and 53 people were murdered, not 36. The remaining citizens were warned not to go looking for their missing family members or face dire consequences.
The family of the lightkeeper soon began to report screams coming from the other end of the island, hands sticking up from the ground and other such occurrences. They soon moved away, never to return. This occurrence was considered so horrible that you could not publicly discuss it. In fact, people were forbidden from visiting the island all the way up to 1990.
Exhumations in 2009 revealed the bodies of 53 men, between 20-70 years old. Each one stripped to their underwear, many had been shot several times. Using DNA analysis, 18 bodies were identified, and another 26 named using historical documents. 9 remain unidentified.
Visitors to the island today report all types of paranormal activity from banging on the underside of boats, ghostly forces whispering in your ears, shadow figures roaming the grounds and multiple reports of physical contact.
If you so happen to venture over to Daksa Island, remember to always respect the owners, respect the property and above all else, respect its inhabitants, living or dead. You can read more about the island at the links below.
https://www.haunted-dubrovnik.com/single-post/2020/03/09/The-massacre-of-Daksa-island
Stitched Smile Publications 