Žabalj

Map of Žabalj municipality

Map of the Žabalj municipality and Šajkaška region

Monument of the 1942 raid victims near Žabalj

Žabalj (Жабаљ) is a town and municipality in South Bačka District of Vojvodina, Serbia. Žabalj town has a population of 9,582, and Žabalj municipality 27,418. It is located in southeastern part of Bačka, known as Šajkaška.

Name

Its name came from the Serbian word "žaba" ("frog" in English). In Serbian, the town is known as Žabalj (Жабаљ), in Hungarian as Zsablya or Józseffalva (between 1886 and 1919), in German as Josefdorf, and in Croatian as Žabalj.

History

Žabalj was first mentioned in 1514 as a fortress captured by Doža Đerđ. During the Ottoman rule (16th-17th century), it was populated by ethnic Serbs. In the 18th and 19th century, Žabalj was part of the Habsburg Military Frontier (Šajkaš Battalion). First church in Žabalj was mentioned in 1720, but it was later razed. Present-day church dedicated to Saint Nikolaj was built in 1835. In 1901, the Catholic church was built as well.

Since 1918, Žabalj was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and subsequent South Slavic states. During the Hungarian Axis occupation, in 1942 raid, 666 inhabitants of the town were murdered, of whom 355 were men, 141 women, 101 children, and 69 old people. By nationality, victims included 614 Serbs, 28 Jews, 23 Roma, and 1 Hungarian. As a revenge partisans of Josip Broz Tito murdered in autumn-winter 1944 some 2000 citizens of Hungarian and German nationality.

Inhabited places

Žabalj municipality encompasses the town of Žabalj, and the following villages:

• Gospođinci
• Đurđevo
• Čurug

Ethnic groups (2002 census)

The population of the Žabalj municipality:

• Serbs (86.25%)
• Rusins (5.11%)
• Roma (2.79%)
• Hungarians (1.1%)

All settlements in the municipality have an ethnic Serb majority.

Historical population of the town

• 1961: 7,457
• 1971: 7,851
• 1981: 8,503
• 1991: 8,766

Politics

Seats in the municipal parliament won in the 2004 local elections: [1]

• Serbian Radical Party (12)
• Democratic Party (5)
• Serbian Strength Movement (3)
• Serbian Renewal Movement (2)
• G17 Plus (2)
• Coalition "Victory" (2)
• Alliance of Serbs in Vojvodina (2)
• Socialist Party of Serbia (2)
• Democratic Party of Serbia (1)

See also

• Šajkaška
• South Bačka District
• List of places in Serbia
• List of cities, towns and villages in Vojvodina

References

• Slobodan Ćurčić, Broj stanovnika Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 1996.
• Zvonimir Golubović, Racija u južnoj Bačkoj 1942. godine, Novi Sad, 1991.
• Dr Dušan J. Popović, Srbi u Vojvodini, knjiga 1, Novi Sad, 1990.

External links

• www.zabalj.co.rs
• zabalj
• zabalj