Zalužnica

Zalužnica Залужница (Serbian)
Village
Country	Croatia
Municipality	Vrhovine
Population  (2011)
• Total	220
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)

Zalužnica (Serbian Cyrillic: Залужница) is a village in the Gacka valley in present-day Lika-Senj County, Croatia. It is located around the main road between the market town of Otočac and the Plitvice Lakes National Park via the village of Vrhovine. It was likely mainly populated in the early to mid-17th century. The existing village church dates from 1753 and anecdotal evidence suggests it was preceded by an earlier wooden built church. A peak population was reached in the late 19th century and from there progressively reduced due to migration and war. It was almost totally de-populated in 1995 during the war that saw the breakup of the former Yugoslavia when the high majority of the population left for Serbia. A handful of old people remained in the village unable or unwilling to make the long trek. A few new people subsequently established holiday homes over the last 10 years and a few returned from Serbia. More recently, local authorities have given Roma people use of the many empty farm properties. The annual Petrovdan celebrations were re-established in the 2000s attracting people with a connection to the village from Serbia and from abroad (see 'YouTube' for films from various years).

There are many people scattered around the world who have some connection with the village resulting from the many migrations away from the village throughout its history. For the village diaspora, there are many issues in trying to find their family ties and heritage. This is reviewed in the below section on 'Ancestor Records....'.

Population

Manojlo Grbić lists that in 1768 Zaluznica comprised 68 households (the author estimates a population of around 700). A survey from 1895 had the population at 1139 with 178 households. This was made up of the main village plus some smaller settlements, namely Draga Brakusa, Čelina, Gola Brdo and Cvijanovic kuca. This population probably represents the pinnacle in numbers as; in the first decade of the 20th century many people left for the USA with the many millions of others from Europe. Subsequently, the impact of the two World Wars (death and migration), the 1960/70s economic migration to cities both in Yugoslavia and central and Western Europe reduced the total population. Ultimately, the wholesale migration of the village to Serbia in 1995 due to war resulted in the near-total depopulation of the village. According to the 2011 census, there were 220 inhabitants living in 157 housing units. Based on anecdotal evidence from various visits to the village after this date, the number of permanent inhabitants is significantly lower, estimated at less than 50.

As many households had the same family name although not related (in living memory) the practice of giving nicknames, called 'špicnamen' (German origin) to differentiate themselves, was widespread. These nicknames originated for a variety of reasons and similarly to how surnames originated. In many cases, it referred to the christian name of the head of the family at a point in time, although for the most populous surnames even this wasn't sufficient and so different nicknames origins were found - see below.

A very useful view of the family names and house numbers in the village is given by Radoslav Grujić published in 1915: Agbaba - 1, Borčić/Delić - 1, Borovac - 20, Brakus - 46, Dorontić - 5, Grbić - 1, Grozdanić - 1, Hinić - 40, Ivančević - 31, Kosić - 6, Krainović/Krajnović - 4, Milinović - 2, Mirković - 5, Novaković - 4, Popović - 33, Srbinović/Srbjanović - 1, Srdić - 1, Uzelac - 10, Vukovojac - 12.

Where there are only 1 or 2 houses of the same surname, they are likely to be most recently settled in the village. For example, the Srdić and Grbić surnames are mainly to be found in Vrhovine. The Grozdanić name is mainly found in Ponori and associated hamlets. Borovac, Brakus, Hinić, Ivančević, Popović, and Vukovojac amongst a few others appear in the Austrian army record as from Zalužnica. The earliest record date found so far is 1795.

Grujić documented some of the špicnamen in 1915 - each nickname for the same family name who were either unrelated or distant relations: Baćini, Bekuti, Brašnari, Guslice, Kuća, Seperi, Šamendulje, Vargani aka Hinić, Čulumi, Mezani aka Ivančević, Dejići, Dvogroške, Sajići, Šare aka Popović, Karapandže, Keseri, Pišnjaci aka Brakus, Korice aka Krajnović.

Rough plan of Zalužnica farmhouses 1970-80 (incomplete)

The rough plan to the right is an incomplete view of farmhouses from the 1970s, including some of the 'špicnamen'. Major exceptions are farmhouse details for Draga Brakus and Hinić around Um.

Language

Given the relative isolation, mixed origins, neighbouring Croats who spoke a different dialect (and accent) and the influence of the ruling Austro-Hungarian state, the language used by people in Zalužnica and other nearby Serb villages developed its own character. From an academic perspective the people spoke the Štokavian dialect and over-time mixed Ijekavian and Ekavian variants in every day language, which again reflects their origin e.g. in the mainly Serbian ekavian sub-class the word for 'milk' is 'mleko' compared to mljeko in the ijekavian form. Some words in an otherwise mainly shared south slav lexicon were different e.g. the Serbian 'hleb' for 'bread' compared to Croatian 'kruh'. Some Zalužnica villagers used the slang 'krua-leba'. German words (and corrupted forms) also became inter-mingled into everyday use, influenced by the direct Hapsburg rule until the end of WW1 e.g. German 'grau' for 'grey' as opposed to the Slavic 'siv', 'šnider' for 'tailor' instead of 'krojač', 'stoff' used for 'cloth' instead of 'tkanina'. There is also some Latin based influence, which could originate from close by Venetian territories on the coast or from true vlachs e.g. 'čeno' for 'dog' instead of Slavic 'pas'. The rural upland setting naturally stamped its own influences.

Surrounding area

The village is located around the main road running from Plitvice Lakes National Park through Vrhovine in the east and to the west a crossroads at Čovići. Turning northwest the road leads to Otočac and from there onto the coast to Senj. Turning south at Čovići leads to Gospić. By car, it takes about 45 minutes to drive to Plitvice and 20 minutes to Otočac. The first village along the road after Zalužnica and towards Čovići is the village of Sinac (both are Croat villages). Otočac is the major market town in the Gacka Valley. Before 1995, it was populated by a Croat majority and large Serb minority.

At the centrally located school house, a country lane runs northwards towards Doljani and Škare. East towards Plitvice, the first village is Vrhovine (mixed but was mainly a Serb village) about 15 minutes drive. It's probably the highest above sea level in the immediate area; 700m above sea level compared to Zalužnica's 500 m. Vrhovine has a railway station. While there are a few households off the beaten track like the settlement of Dugi Dol, there are no other settlements because to the immediate south, south-east and north east are mountain peaks. Zalužnica sits on the eastern slope of the Gacka valley; in the eastern part of the village by the main road is a limestone cavern and underground river, which, until the early 1950s, was a main drinking water supply for the village (later a number of common wells were dug around the village that tap into the same underground water supply).

Farming

Farming in Zalužnica was a matter of self-subsistence made difficult by the limestone geology and mountainous terrain. The mainstays of the average farm was sheep, cattle, pigs, grains, and potatoes. Plum orchards were a very important resource from which the local spirit called Šlivovic (otherwise rakija) was made. The winters are typically harsh, and the summers are hot. Until the early 1960s, most work on the farm was manual throughout the year using bullocks/ox (or a few families who could afford to keep horses) as the main power source for heavy farm work. By the mid-1970s, farming became almost fully mechanised. Typical farm sizes were around 10 hectares with many small fields scattered around the village resulting from historical family inheritance customs, which further limited the scope for larger farmsteads. For those farms away from the main road electricity was only connected in the late 1950-60's and piped water in the 1970-80's.

History

From its establishment amidst conflict, the village and its people continued to be moulded by conflict throughout its history. The main exceptions were the economic migration to the USA in the early 1900s and the relative prosperity of the 1960-1980's. The regular occurrence of war seemingly destroyed whatever social documents existed. Most readily available documentation provides small snippets of tangential information; Austro-Hungarian Army records (18th to 20th century), 19th and early 20th century ecclesiastical and population surveys and the Ellis Island information (1890 to 1920). Births, deaths and marriages and other social documents have yet to be found and anecdotal opinion is that little or nothing remains.

The presence of a notable opening at ground level to an underground river and caverns would have likely attracted people through the ages. In addition, the narrow pass at the eastern part of the village provides one of the few access points from the Gacka valley to the extensive lakes system of Plitvice.

Beyond Draga Brakus towards the Vatinovac peak is the Bezdanjača cave where around 200 burials were discovered dating to the middle to late Bronze Age (1500-750 BC). While there are Roman remains in Lika, there's nothing of note within the area of the village. Vrhovine had been a Roman settlement, called Arapium.

From 1300, Otočac became part of the Frankopan family estate, which possibly extended to include the area that became Zalužnica.

Prior to the Ottoman incursions, there was possibly a Croat settlement. Fras claims that in the general vicinity of the village there are traces of church ruins of which nothing is known other than its name of Sv.Mihovil. (Note: The reference to Fras is taken from the 1988 Croatian translation and not from the original book.). The name of village seems to have evolved. A history of the Otočac regiment by Franz Bach, mentions the village in the mid-18th century as "Sct Peter (Založnica)", for example on page 51. The 1866 book by Vinko Sabljar, lists the village as "Založnica (Zalužnica, Sveti-Petar)" on page 483 with additional detail of 75 houses and a population of 990. The name refers to the church in the village, its full title 'Sveti Petar i Pavao' (St Peter & Paul).

Ottomans

In the aftermath of the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 the Ottomans pushed northwards further into South Eastern Europe, progressively taking control of Serbia, Bosnia, and Dalmatia (although Venice maintained control of key cities) forcing large numbers of Slavic peoples and others into Austrian and Hungarian territories (including the Ban of Croatia which was under Hungarian control). This also coincided with famines in Serbia. There are various accounts of the arrival of variously called Rascians, Serbs, Vlachs etc. (references to be provided). The Ottoman defeat of Croat nobility forces in 1493 at the Battle of Krbava Field in southern Lika caused major depopulation in Lika with Croats and recent migrants fleeing further northwards. The Ottomans settled Lika establishing a new border. The aforementioned Croatian settlement in the area of Zalužnica likely disappeared around this time.

Through the 1500s and particularly following the Hungarian defeat of 1526 at the Battle of Mohacs the Ottomans extended their territory. In Lika, this reached immediately to the south of Otočac. From around the 1520s, it saw the emergence of the Uskoks. In Catherine Wendy Bracewell's 'The Uskoks of Senj', as well as documenting the Uskoks, she usefully describes the nature of this borderland, of skirmishes and raids. The new borderland, stretching eastwards into Hungary, became the Hapsburg's Military Frontier, the 'Krajina', which from the early 17th century came under the direct control of the Austrian authorities. At around the same time the Austrian took over the Krajina, the Uskoks were forced out of Senj by Austrian authorities, with some settled around Otočac. A local Austrian official reports the arrival of 'Walachen' around the Otoćac area in 1611 (families and their animals). Although this could be confused for the Uskoks, the official further reports that they were fleeing the Turks.

On the Austrian side of the Lika border, Orthodox peoples were actively encouraged by the Austrian authorities to settle in de-populated lands as it provided the means to defend the border without the high cost of deploying significant numbers of its own forces. These settlers were soldier/farmers. To the other side of the border, the Ottomans forcibly resettled Christian subjects form their southern conquered lands into Northern Bosnia and Southern Lika, notwithstanding the settlement of Muslim converts (from Bosnia) and Ottomans. The purpose to also create a buffer zone and provide some stability around the border. It is therefore not surprising of the significant links between people in the Gacka Valley/Krbava with those in North Bosnia.

Manojlo Grbić wrote in 1890 that in 1658 people settled the Gacka valley who came from Usore in Bosnia and that in 1890 those people were Serb communities of Zalužnica, Škare, Doljani (etc). However, there is no reference to the source of this information.

While the border remained roughly in the same position, Lika continued to be subject to population migration and turmoil until the early 18th century. This reached a peak in the late 17th century, after the Ottomans failed for a second time to conquer Vienna in 1683 (Great Turkish War). In Lika, the mainly Orthodox Grenzers (see below) re-settled southern Lika, forcing out the majority of Ottoman and other muslin settlers. This again resulted in the short-term, significant de-population of Lika.

Following the Ottoman defeat, the Austrians encouraged the Slavic population in Serbia and Bosnia to rise against the Ottomans. It failed, resulting in the (Great Migrations of the Serbs) of 1690, to mainly eastern Krajina (Slavonia) and Hungary, and to a lesser extent into western Krajina. This major upheaval caused further population migration in Lika.

The ethnicity of the peoples who settled and re-settled Lika over nearly two centuries has been debated extensively, however, a quick review of family names in Lika county suggests a mix of mainly Serbs, Montenegrins, Vlachs, various other minorities and Croats. After a time, whatever the origin, these peoples assimilated and identified themselves as Orthodox Serbs, becoming a significant part of the population in Lika.

Throughout the Ottoman period, settlement was encouraged and sponsored by the Austro-Hungarian (A-H) authorities to create a bulwark against the Ottomans. The migrant population was granted rights in return for fighting the Ottomans including, land, free person status as soldier/farmers (and therefore not the property of the Croatian nobility), and freedom of religion. They became known as the Grenzers ( graničari - literally 'border guards'). These perceived privileges for the settlers caused great issue for the Croatian nobility who on a number of occasions (with support from parts of the Austrian authorities) made effort to remove Austrian control of the Krajina, subsume the settlers into their feudal property and convert the 'schismatic' Orthodox population to Uniat or Catholicism. On more than one occasion this led to rebellion, for example the 1728 major uprising in Lika. Inevitably, the Austrian authorities were forced to re-assert the rights of the settlers fearing the loss of the Grenzers' loyalty and an important fighting force. The ongoing antagonism of the Croatians towards the Serb communities in the Krajina in the subsequent centuries stems from this period.

While the threat of Ottoman invasion had receded considerably since the early 18th century, the Grenzers continued to be involved in protecting the border with repeated incursions until the mid 19th century from northern Bosnia. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries there were multiple years of failed crops and famine. This again prompted population turmoil across Lika. The revolutions across the Austrian Empire in 1848-49 was a further major upheaval due to the losses of soldiers in the various failed efforts by the Austrians to regain control. After the Ottomans lost control of Bosnia in 1878, there was further migration from Lika into northern Bosnia.

The turmoil of the revolving cycle of war, raiding, migration, and settlement for around 300 years in Lika can be viewed simplistically as solely attributable to the Ottomans. While Ottoman aggression northwards was the cause of initial migrations, for much of this period the political machinations of Austrian foreign policy (and many non-Ottoman wars), Hungarian territorial claims, the Croatian nobility's efforts to hold onto feudalism, and Ottoman foreign policy (and many non-European wars), were the primary factors in the course of events that moulded Lika and therefore Zalužnica.

The Regiment

The settlers were soldiers first and farmers second, which despite the Croatian nobility's efforts, ensured their status as freemen. The protection of the border and therefore their property dominated their lives and the settlers together with the Croatian populace in Lika progressively established themselves as a critical fighting force for the Austrian Empire.

This was formally recognised from 1746 when the Grenzers were organised in to the Austro-Hungarian Army under a number of regiments. In western Krajina, Karlovac (Karlstadt) became the primary headquarters with regiments variously based in Otočac, Gospić and Ogulin amongst others Grenz infantry. The Otočac regiment was initially called the “Karlstädter Otocaner Grenz-Infanterie-Regiment” and consisted 4 battalions of around 5,000 men. The Otočac regiment recruited from all communities across coastal, central and northern Lika.

As the relative threat of the Ottomans retreated, the Grenzers became employed in the Empire's other wars in central Europe e.g. the Seven Years' War. With the Grenzer power base beginning to be perceived a problem by the Austrian authorities and following a Grenzer rebellion in 1800, the numbers were significant reduced from around 57,000 to 13,000 together with various attempts to re-organise them. The regular wars with the French in the late 18th century and early 19th century ensured that the Grenzers remained an important force.

The Otočac regiment was on the battlefield against Napoleon. On defeating the Austrians, Lika and its regiments came under Napoleonic control for a short period from 1809 to 1814. Battalions from the various Lika regiments were part of the French army that invaded Russia. Following Napoleon's demise it returned to Hapsburg control.

The extent of the regiment's role in every day life is indicated by 'births, deaths and marriages' records in the mid-19 century. For example, church records for Vrhovine from 1856 show that for even births the regiment and company of the father is documented. For marriage records, the regiment and company of both the groom's and bride's household is documented. Various military lists from Regiment records, from 1772 to 1819, document Zalužnica soldiers including Borovac, Brakus, Hinić, Invačević, Kosić, Popović, Uzelac, and Vukovojac.

The last vestiges of the Krajina were removed in 1881 by Emperor Francis Joseph. Ahead of this the Otočac regiment, in 1880, was re-designated the 79th K.u.k. Infantry Regiment "Otocaner Graf Jellacic, which by in large remained intact until the end of WW1.

USA Migration

Towards the end of the 19th century, a trickle of individuals travelled to the USA seeking work and a better future, as millions of others did from Europe for the same reasons. From the turn of the century, the numbers leaving Zalužnica for the USA ramped up significantly. The immigration records for New York (Ellis Island) and other ports of entry reveal a pattern of specific villagers travelling to a specific town/city in the USA, built on the back of the first few who travelled there. Zalužnica immigrants tended to favour Cleveland, Ohio. The immigrant stories are wide and varied. Some settled permanently in the USA, some returned after a few years with enough money to make a difference to their families and inevitably became embroiled in WWI. While mostly men made the trip, the records include women and children, both together and separately. Surnames were changed, purposely and by accident. The changes ranged from no change, through minor changes to improve pronunciation in an English speaking world to adoption of surnames that bore no resemblance to the original. Many 'disappeared' and only in the 2000s have started to 'reappear' through DNA testings, their descendants discovering previously unknown linkages to Lika.

World Wars

Leading to World War I the Otočac regiment was designated k.u.k Infanterieregiment Graf Jellaèić Nr.79. The 'Nr.79' was sent to the Serbian front at the start of WWI, with many of the A-H Army's Serb soldiers becoming POWs in Serbia. At the start of 1915, it found itself on the Galician front, through the Carpathian Mountains, fighting against Russian forces and suffering heavy losses through 1915. Many were taken as POWs. On Russia exiting the war in 1917 due to revolution, the resulting military and political chaos proved to be a massive obstacle for POWs in returning home. In the aftermath of the war, the allies supported the creation of a new country from the vestiges of the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Serbian State, populated mainly by Slavic peoples, hence the later name Yugo-slavia, 'South-Slavs'.

Although the creation of a 'south-slav' homeland had a basis of support from some sections of the 'south-slavs' themselves (and not just an Allied convenience), the nationalistic forces unsurprisingly soon took over resulting in a troubled state throughout its inter-war existence. It was very predictable given that the two dominant communities, the Independent Serbian state and the newly freed Croatian populace, having finally escaped 500 years of control by Imperialist powers, were forced into another relationship.

WW2 saw a level of brutality and death in Lika unseen since the height of the Ottoman conflicts. It was driven by the fascist NDH state's principle policy of removing Serbs from Croatian territory. The NDH was created in 1941 on the back of the German invasion of Yugoslavia and full support of fascist Italy, which had sponsored and groomed its leaders since the mid 1920s. Conditions for the Serb communities in Lika throughout the war are documented elsewhere in Wikipedia et al. The population of the village was decimated. This includes the significant number of men who left the village in early 1944, walking out to Italy. They were resettled by the Allies across Allied countries (mainly USA, UK, Canada, and Australia) after the end of the war, together with the many other displaced persons from Eastern Europe.

At the onset of the conflict in 1941, the village associated itself with the Serbian Royalist forces led by Mihailović based in Ravna Gora and called themselves četniks. Their priority was the protection of the village from the NDH's Ustaše forces. Over time, they became embroiled with the broader regional conflict that involved multiple other fighting forces including Italian and German armies, the Ustaša and the communist Yugoslav Partisans under Josip Broz Tito. Some people from the village later joined the partisans and it was not uncommon for families to be split between četniks and partisans. When the Allies switched logistical and armament support to the partisans in late 1943, the četniks were effectively forced to leave.

Post WW2

At the end of WW2 the partisans re-established the Yugoslav state, securing additional territory. Some villagers who were in the partisans were given land by the authorities in Bačka in then northeast Yugoslavia, which had been gained from Hungary in the post-war carve up. Amongst this major migration from across all Yugoslavia, a few villages in Bačka became 'Lika in the East', the migrants maintaining their Lika traditions.

With many men having left during the war and settled in the West, it left a largish proportion of women in Zalužnica without the prospect of marriage. The remaining families of those men abroad made matches and between 50 and 100 women left the village to join their new husbands following 'proxy' marriages. These marriages were officiated by the Yugoslav state and accepted by Western countries as valid marriage certificates for settlement purposes. The WW2 exodus and subsequent marriages were a second major source of the Zalužnica diaspora.

With Tito breaking from the Soviet Union, the country's economy started to open up in the 1960s. This was further bolstered by the German economic explosion and the Yugoslav state's willingness to allow its citizens to work in Germany (also Austria and Switzerland at different times). This had a dramatic affect on the village (and mainly northern Yugoslavia) from the late 1960s and into the 1970s and 1980s. The most visible outcomes were; construction of new farmhouses across the village, the mechanisation of agriculture (which until the late-1960s was in the main still powered by oxen and horses), and the movement of young people to towns and cities across the country. Some of those working in Germany (and other countries) permanently settled there, forming the third major source of the Zalužnica diaspora.

The 'Croatian Spring' uprising of the late 1960s / early 1970s together with the heightened threat from Croat nationalists in the diaspora, who sought the re-establishment of an independent Croatia, raised tensions throughout the former Krajina. In Zalužnica, a large police presence patrolled the annual Petrovdan celebrations in the village after widespread rumour of an attack. How much of the latter was part of Tito's propaganda machine is open to question.

Tito's death inevitably and predictably lead to the dissolution of the Yugoslav state as virulent nationalism took hold. The Serbs in the historic Krajina established their own 'state', as other communities had done across the crumbling Yugoslavia, informed by the last independent Croatian state in WW2. It was compromised by the nationalistic and political intrigues within Yugoslavia and the external machinations that forced the disintegration of a nation state. The final act saw the mass migration in 1995 of around one quarter of a million people to Serbia ahead of the known Croatian military offensive. Farmers in Zalužnica released their livestock to the fields and joined the long convoy through the ongoing hostilities in Croatia and Bosnia to reach the Serbian border. The welcome there, was less than warm. the people from Zalužnica blamed the Serbian president Milošević for selling them out following his agreement with Croatian president Tudjman.

The Croatian government's obligations under its pursuit of EU membership resulted in efforts to encourage the former population to return to their homes. War-battered farmhouses of the few elderly who had remained were repaired. A handful of mainly older people returned from Serbia. Others return to their ancestral homes during holiday periods and there are a few new arrivals. Some Croatians have purchased property in the village. A few Roma people have been allowed by local authorities to occupy some farmsteads for horse husbandry.

The village farmhouses remain in the most part derelict, particularly away from the main road. The new Zagreb-Split highway that passes close to Otočac has reduced the Plitvice traffic passing through the village as the national park is accessible from the highway. The planned extension from the highway directly to Plitvice and onwards to the south west, will result in the almost total isolation of the village. After around 400 years the village and its people are effectively lost to history. Yet, the increasing popularity of DNA testing, mainly in the diaspora, is slowly starting to build a cultural memory of its people, which for once will remain intact through the internet.

Ancestor Records, Family Trees and DNA

Birth, death and marriage records have been mainly destroyed during the multiple conflicts since the village was established, making it very difficult to trace ancestors beyond living memory. Most available resources are in the countries the Zalužnica people migrated to. These include, immigration records, births deaths & marriages, naturalisation etc. Much of this is available online albeit normally at a cost, for example, www.ancestry.com, although there are free websites such as Ellis Island and www.familyseach.org. Each country has its own national archives and there are many other niche online information sources such as obituaries and graveyard records which sometimes provide genealogy information. One of the main issues in finding ancestors is the misspelling of names and places in the digital records transcribed from the microfiche of the original handwritten documents. While websites offer some level of 'fuzzy' name searches, in many cases, it requires patient review of the microfiche record (online) page by page to find possible ancestors. Where surnames were changed on purpose at point of entry or shortly thereafter, the ability to trace ancestors through official records is near impossible and relies on the coincidence of DNA autosomal tests.

An important resource is the Austro-Hungarian Empire Army records which date from the mid-18th century to World War 1. Some records exist for the various regiments that were located in Krajina and held at the Croatian State Archives in Zagreb. A few of these records have started to appear at www.familyseach.org. The Austrian WW1 casualty lists (called 'Verlustliste') are the largest resource available online and can be found on a number of free websites, for example, Verlustliste. As the original documents were typed, most names are correctly spelled and therefore the 'search' function on the websites is fairly accurate. In many cases, it lists the soldier's village (or the closest regiment command post) and date of birth in addition to name, rank, regiment, casualty status and for POWs some list the name of the POW camp. There are only a few entries that list Zalužnica as the village of origin, as Zalužnica soldiers listed the command post at which they enrolled, typically; Vrhovine, Škare or Octočac.

In general, for 'Orthodox' Lika villages there are sparse records of births, deaths and marriages. While records should have been centralised in Zagreb at the national archives, it is apparent that if any official administrative records do exist they will be found only in the local administrative centre. For Zalužnica, this should be either Vrhovine or Otočac. As at 2018, the Vrhovine local administrative office advised that any such records, if they exist at all, would be held in Otočac. A free online resource is available at Croatia Church Records for a subset of 'Orthodox' Lika villages, but only include 1 or 2 years; for whatever reason 1833 and 1856 are the most common. There are no records for Zalužnica, but there are for Škare and Gornja Vrhovine and these may help in discovering any Zalužnica ancestors who married into these or other villages. These records are difficult to read as the documents are a mix of printed and handwritten text in an archaic form of Cyrillic and the language is of its day. The 1833 records are unstructured making it even more difficult to transcribe, whereas the those of 1856 and similar years are based on a standardised form. The whereabouts of the Zalužnica church records is unknown, although the church has survived intact since it was built in its current form in 1770.

A useful resource is Radoslav Grujic 'Plemenski rjecnik licko-krbavske zupanije' published in 1915 which lists family surnames and the Lika village in which they were found. Other snippets of information can be found on the internet, but the source is rarely stated making them somewhat inconclusive.

Autosomal DNA tests offer the possibility of finding ancestral relationships, although without detailed family trees it's difficult to confirm relationships with actual names beyond 2nd cousins. As more people take the test, the possibility of finding relatives and bloodline linkages will increase substantially.

To preserve the heritage and culture of the Zalužnica people, the author encourages publication of family trees, however small, and Autosomal DNA tests to establish ancestral relationships.