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Borivoj Dovniković (* 1930)

• Borivoj was born in Osijek, the 12th of December 1930

• His mother died when he was 5

• With the beginning of the war, he and his father escaped to Serbia, where he lived in refugee camps

• After the end of the war, the became a famous artist, and one of the pioneer of Yugoslav animation

• He died in Zagreb, the 8th of February 2022

FAMILY AND CHILDHOOD

Borivoj Dovniković, also known under the artistic name of Bordo was born in Osijek on the 12 of December 1930. His father and paternal side of the family are originally from the village Čepin, nine kilometers from Osijek. Borivoj father moved from Čepin to Osijek at the age of 18, after having completed the courses to become a policeman. Borivoj’s mother was from Maribor, Slovenia, and was a guest worker in Osijek. She died when Borivoj was five because of tubercolosis, as well as Borivoj’s brother Milovan. After the death of his mother, Borivoj lived with his grandmother in Čepin and aunts in Osijek.

BEGINNING OF WWII

Borivoj first heard about the invasion of Yugoslavia and the bombing of Belgrade from people passing on the streets, as his family didn’t have a radio. He recalls that people gathered and heard how Germans bombed the capital, unannounced. With the proclamation of the NDH (Independent State of Croatia), Borivoj’s family became “unwanted”, because of their Serbian origin, and living in NDH became dangerous. Borivoj’s uncle was arrested in Čepin and disappeared. Only seventy years later they found out he was taken to Jadovno concentration camp.

ESCAPING TO SERBIA

Borivoj and his father escaped from Osijek. They bought German passes illegally and were able to reach Šabac. However, because his father was a public figure, he hadn’t to be seen living NDH. On a Sunday, the 8th of August, Borivoj’s grandfather took him and his father from Čepin to Osijek, where they took a train for Vinkovci, and then to the border with Serbia, on the village of Klenak. They were stopped before passing the border and asked for the passes by Ustaša policeman, who looked with sympathy to Borivoj’s drawings and let them go through.

ARRIVAL IN SERBIA, THE REFUGEE CAMPS, THE END OF THE WAR

Borivoj and his family arrived first in Šabac, as it was the first city to be reached when crossing from NDH to Serbia. After two or three days, the time needed to his father to get refugee permits, he and Borivoj took a ship and traveled to Belgrade. In Belgrade, Borivoj lived in the refugee camps. He remembers the difficulties of this life, because of the scarcity of food. Borivoj attended the end of the war in Požarevac. Borivoj remembers the partisans and the Russian army entering the city.

POST WAR YEARS, WORK AND CULTURAL LIFE

 The first days after the war were difficult because of food shortages, but Borivoj remembers how they were finally free. Free to not listening to German language, to Ustaša, and freedom to not be afraid. Immediately after the end of the war, Borivoj started to be involved in cultural life, organizing events in Požarevac and the closest villages. He draw caricatures of Hitler and other officials. He ended the high school studies in Požarevac, then enrolled in the Faculty of Fine Arts in Zagreb.

In 1950, he joined the humorous newspaper Kerempuh as a caricaturist. In 1951, he joined the Neugebauer brothers and participated in the creation of the film „The Great Rally”, the first Yugoslav animated film. Borivoj has been one of the main protagonists of the famous Zagreb School of Cartoon Film and has been involved in the creation and development of Zagreb Film, which has been one of the world‘s leading centers of animated film for decades.

A MESSAGE TO YOUNG PEOPLE

Borivoj’s message to young people is to read, and to become critical of nationalism. He remembers “when I came to Zagreb, I came to an open environment where I didn‘t need to say that I was a Serb. ... I lived normally, if I drawn good cartoons or comics then I had money, if I didn’t, I didn’t have money, no one asked me how I lived, and I lived well”.