After the Partisans entered Dubrovnik on 18 October 1944, they arrested more than 300 citizens.

Exhumation and DNA analysis have confirmed the identities of 18 of these, while 35 remain unknown.

The Partisans later published and distributed flyers through Dubrovnik with the words: "In the name of peoples of Yugoslavia" and "Judicial Council of the Court Martial of the Command of South Dalmatian region".

[citation needed] On 19 June 2010, the remains of the executed men were re-interred.

[3] The victims included a Catholic priest, Father Petar Perica (who composed the song "Djevo Kraljice Hrvata"), and Niko Koprivica, Dubrovnik's mayor.