Due to his family's poor financial situation, he started working as a scribe after finishing six grades of the public school.
When the Banovina of Croatia was founded, Ivan's father was active in the local Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS) organization.
For the sake of safety, in 1943, Ivan escaped with his mother and brother to Ilok, and at the end of the war in 1944, in front of the Srijem battlefield, they continued to Strizivojna, then to Vinkovci.
On April 12, 1945, his family found themselves in a column of Croatian refugees fleeing from partisan forces.
Petar Šokčević, but by order of the occupation authorities he had to return to Tovarnik every day and report to their militia.
He was shot from behind in the basement of the clergy house by a member of the Dušan Silni Serbian paramilitary unit, a murderer from Vršac.
[6] The coroner's report falsified conditions of the murder, because the analysis later showed bullet holes in the chest.
[7] Although he was killed like other locals with firearms and/or cold weapons, in official documents she and Dr. Dragan Martinović wrote that Burik and the others "died from the explosion".
Three were charged with armed rebellion, four were acquitted due to lack of evidence, and the rest received sentences ranging from five to ten years.
[10] In 2013, Sonja Tomić wrote an illustrated book Zvjezdana vrata ("Stargate") on his life and martyrdom.