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Our father among the [[saint]]s, '''Vukašin of Klepci''' (in Serbian: Свети Вукашин из Клепаца), was a Serbian Orthodox Christian from Herzegovina who was [[martyr]]ed by fascists during World War II for refusing to acknowledge the Ustashi leader. He is remembered on [[May 3]] under the [[New Calendar|new calendar]] (in another sources - May 19 (6)).
Little is known about the life of Saint Vukasin. He was born in the village of Klepci, in Herzegovina, at the turn of the nineteenth/twentieth century. He was from a well known family of Mandrapa and moved from Klepci to Sarajevo. His family was known as benefactors of the church of Archangel Archangels Michael and Gabriel in Sarajevo. He and his nephews Chedo and Dobro were serving as readers at this church. At the beginning of World War II, he fled from Sarajevo back to Klepci and was hiding from fascists until the members of the Croatian fascist Ustašas arrested him and transported him, together with other Serbs of that region, into the notorious concentration camp of Jasenovac (the number of victims at this camp have been estimated to be at least 700,000). His martyrdom was revealed by doctor Nedelko Nedo Zets in 1946. Many relatives of Vukašin were also killed, including his nephews who died in Jasenovac.
Zhila approached him Vukašin and asked about his life, his family and felt an irresistible desire to destroy the calmness of Vukašin. The killer said he would spare his (Vukašin's) life if Vukašin cried loudly: "Long live Ante Pavelic!". Ante Pavelic was the leader of Ustashemovement and Independent State of Croatia - a Nazi puppet state. Vukašin, who saw a knife in the hands of the soldier, replied calmly: "My child, you do what you must", and refused to obey the soldier`s request. The Ustashe soldier brandished his knife and cut off VukasinVukašin`s ear. The soldier then repeated his request. Vukasin repeated his answer. The soldier then cut off Vukašin's other ear, followed by his nose, and then scarred Vukasin`s face. Next his tongue was cut. After repeating the request to Vukasin to utter the vicious words and hail the Head of Ustaše (Ante Pavelic), Vukasin once again calmly replied: "My child, you do what you must". In the end, Vukašin made the sign of the Cross with his hand. Distracted, the soldier cut his hand and eventually killed him, and afterwards went mad.
Right after the death of VukasinVukašin, Zhila could not kill any more and lost the bet to another killer, Petro Brzitza, who executed 1350 people. He Zhila started to often see a vision of Vukasin saying "My child, you do what you must". And this phrase in the head became so unbearable to him that he started to drink a lot of alcohol, but this did not stop the voice. And then he began running around and attacking random people trying to stop this nightmare and suppress this memory. The story of martyrdom of Vukašin was written by doctor Nedo Zets in the hospital from the words of the killer.
At the regular session of the [[Holy Synod|Holy Assembly of Bishops]] of the [[Church of Serbia|Serbian Orthodox Church]] in 1998, Vukašin, from the Klepci village, was entered into the List of Names of the Serbian Orthodox Church as a martyr. His feast day is May 16 ([[Julian Calendar]]).