Đorđe Vukosavljević died exactly 100 years around 02h30 AM on 22nd January 1919 in a Prisoners of War camp in Nieuw-Milligen in the municipality of Apeldoorn in the Netherlands.
He was a Serbian WWI soldier and captured in 1915 while the Serbian army was retreating towards the Greek island of Corfu. When we started to research the fate of the 91 Serbian WWI soldiers who died in the Netherlands we were grateful that we got in contact with the great-grand daughter of Đorđe. She shared pictures and letters with us with gave us an insight in the live of a Serbian WWI PoW.
30/06/1918:
Dear Lepa, if you don’t get my letters soon, you have to know that I am not alive anymore. I’d rather die than wander around as a blind person. A blind man doesn’t work in the mine. If I escape from here, I will inform you. Just, I feel sorry that I still haven’t got your and children’s picture, in order to see Ružica as well.
Dear Lepa, hereby I am sending you 25 marks. Buy children what they want, let them know it is from their father.
Regards and kisses to you Lepa, Duško, Milica, Zorica and little Ružica.
Yours,Đoka.
He is just one of the million soldiers who died because of the First World War, but I am glad that I am part of the team who discovered his story (and many others) which you can read here: https://www.secanje.nl/en/results/dorde-vukosavljevic/