BMO / Online campaign - Svetozar Milinov

Svetozar Milinov (1869- 1941)

Svetozar Milinov was a cloth merchant who became a respected figure in the end of the 19th century in Zagreb.

In 1929, Milinov bought the house of Pavao Hatz, former mayor of Zagreb, located in the corner between Ban Jelačić Square and Gajeva Street. After the purchase, Milinov demolished the house and, in its place, constructed a new building, which he turned into a hotel, named after him.

The hotel soon became one of the most luxurious and exclusive of the time. On the ground floor, were located two restaurants and a Milinov textile store. Despite the modern art-deco architecture, soon criticisms arose, saying that the building was ruining the square aesthetic. People started calling the hotel "škatulja" (the box), as a joke. In 1940, Milinov decided to sell the hotel to the shipping company “Dubrovačka plovidba”, which changed its name to "Hotel Dubrovnik", which remains today the name of the hotel.

In 1941, Ante Pavelić, leader of the Ustaše movement, with the support of Fascist and Nazi forces, established a puppet state, named Independent State of Croatia (NDH). Following racial laws from Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, Ustaše targeted ethnic and religious minorities, such as Serbs, Jews, and Roma, which became victims of deportations, killings, and systematic violence. Already in 1941, Svetozar Milinov, his wife, and four sons, were taken to the Gospić camp system, where they were executed.

On Wednesday, 25.10.2023., the Centre for Promotion of Tolerance and Holocaust Remembrance in Zagreb dedicated to Milinov a Stolperstein in his memory, in Gajeva street.