Daksa is a quaint little island just off the coast of Croatia, complete with orange grove, spacious villa, 19th-century lighthouse, Franciscan monastery ruins, and boat dock. Unfortunately, the island also has a mass grave of suspected Nazi sympathizers who were shot and killed without a trial...and archaeologists aren't sure they've found all of the bodies yet.
Daksa is the smallest island in the Elaphite archipelago at 200 meters by 500 meters, but it's within swimming distance from the popular destination of Dubrovnik, Croatia. In 1281, the monastery, named for St. Sabina, was built, and the villa and lighthouse were built later on. The pictures are gorgeous, so it's a little surprising that no one showed any interest in buying the island when it went up for sale in October of 2013. Then again, people can be pretty superstitious when it comes to ghost stories, and the legend surrounding Daksa is a doozy.
In mid-October of 1944, Yugoslav partisans, the most effective European anti-Nazi group, entered Croatia, which was then essentially a puppet regime of the Nazis. Within days, they has arrested more than 300 suspected Nazis in Dubrovnik. They later took about 53 of those prisoners, including the Mayor of Dubrovnik, to Daksa and executed them, allegedly without giving them a trial. The partisans didn't even bother to bury the bodies, dumping them in one of two mass graves. Relatives of the dead were told that the victims were executed after being convicted of being Nazi sympathizers, and were warned not to look into the matter, or else they would meet the same fate. The relatives were outraged, with many stating that their executed relatives had nothing to do with the Nazis, but too afraid to protest.
It wasn't until 2009 that the bodies were rediscovered when an individual who was exploring the island stumbled upon one of the graves. Reports claim that between 48 and 53 bodies were dug up, and an investigation into the incident was launched. Several of the skeletons were actually identified, while the others remain unknown. Despite the fact that the bodies were given a proper burial in 2010, it's not hard to believe that the spirits of the dead might still haunt the lonely island, seeking revenge for their executions. That actually sounds kind of cool...I wonder if it's still for sale..
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