GUEST POST: Potkonjak and Banic in Mekinjar

This is a guest post from Mike Penzer (penzer@sbcglobal.net).  This is information that comes from research he has done for a family history book.  He has also created a "Village - family tree" from available records that has 2,817 names and covers the time period from roughly 1850 to 1950.  You can reach Mike (penzer@sbcglobal.net) directly if you have interest in that information.  

MEKINJAR. Our ancestors came from Mekinjar, also known as Donji Mekinjar, which is located seven miles northwest of Udbina, Croatia, the main village in Udbina municipality. Mekinjar village and Udbina village and municipality are part of Lika – Senj County, the largest county by area in present-day Croatia, but also the least populated and among the poorest. The population of Mekinjar has drastically declined over the years due to the negative effects of several wars and a poor local economy, with local residents seeking safety and better economic opportunities elsewhere. The population of Mekinjar in 1857, the earliest year for which I can find population figures, was 1,041 people. The population peaked slightly higher in 1900 at 1,121 people, and then declined a little to 967 in 1931. But by 1948, following World War II (1939 – 1945), the population had fallen to 609 due largely to the expulsion of Croatians from the Udbina area in December 1942.

In 1981, the year that Elaine and I (Michael Penzer) visited, Mekinjar was down to 312 inhabitants. By 1991, the population had drifted slightly lower to 274 (composed mainly of 93% ethnic Serbians) as the locals continued to seek better job opportunities elsewhere. Then, the population collapsed to just 42 people in 2001 following the Croatian War of Independence between Croatian-dominated Croatia and Serbian-dominated Yugoslavia (Jugoslavia) from 1991 to 1995. [See the article about the Croatian War of Independence at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_War_of_Independence.] Because Mekinjar’s population was mostly Serbian rather than Croatian after 1942, the Croatian victory over the Serbians in 1995 sent the Serbians of Mekinjar fleeing to nearby Serbia, and to Serbian parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. By 2011, Mekinjar had only 31 people, a catastrophic decline of 97% from 1,121 inhabitants in 1900. The farmlands in Mekinjar have reverted to forest and grasslands. The place is empty.

The nearest city to Mekinjar is Zadar, situated at the edge of the Adriatic Sea, 60 miles west of Mekinjar. In contrast to Mekinjar, Zadar has gained in population since the early 1900s, going from a population of about 25,000 in 1900 to about 75,000 in 2011, making it the fifth largest city in Croatia.​OUR FAMILY IN MEKINJAR. I have researched all of the births in Mekinjar from 1900 to 1913, and all of the marriages there from 1900 to 1939, and from that research, I have found that there were about 216 properties in the village. Cully’s father, Durad Potkonjak (George Ponak), was born at Mekinjar #136, and her mother, Dragjla Banic, at Mekinjar #86. But the extended Potkonjak and Banic families also occupied other properties in the village, suggesting that we had a large network of distant cousins living in Mekinjar. I have found members of the Potkonjak family living at Mekinjar #71, #79, #80, #81, #82, #83, #86, #87, #119, #122, #124, #136, #183, #193, #194, and #209. Also, I have found members of the Banic family living at Mekinjar #85, #86, #90, #121, #122, #124, #130, #148, #149, #150, #195, #196, and #212. In addition, I believe Dragjla Banic’s mother was a Divjak, and the extended Divjak family resided at Mekinjar #74, #75, #141, #215, and #216.

OTHER SURNAMES IN MEKINJAR. In addition to Potkonjak, Banic, and Divjak, I found the following surnames at Mekinjar: Adamovic, Barac, Beokovic, Bosnic, Brkic, Buncic, Cosic, Cuka, Culajevic, Cvjeticaic, Ergarac, Ernaut, Grbic, Grkovic, Kliska, Kozlica, Kukic, Loncar, Marinkovic, Mastelica, Medic, Mrkobrada, Obradovic, Peric, Popovic, Radeka, Radovanac, Ribaric, Romic, Sakic, Trkulja, Vracar, Vukmirovic, Vukovic, Zjajvuk, and Zorica. We are probably related to nearly all of these families because of the intermarriage amongst these families in Mekinjar village.

NEARBY VILLAGES. In my research of the marriages in Mekinjar in Udbina municipality between 1900 and 1939, I found that residents of Mekinjar married not only fellow residents of Mekinjar, but also residents of nearby villages in Udbina municipality. These nearby villages included Bunic, Cojluk, Josan, Komic, Kreana, Kuk, Kurjak, Mutilic, Pisac, Podlapac, Rebic, Srednja Gora, Svrackovo Selo, Tolic, Udbina, and Visuc.