The little piece of Zagorje hidden in the heart of Slavonia

Vjekoslava Pratnemer (Photo: Vinkovačke jeseni)

 JARMINA, Croatia – In the flat landscape of eastern Slavonia, one small community has spent generations preserving the traditions, dialect and customs of a region hundreds of kilometres away.

In Jarmina, near Vinkovci, descendants of families who arrived from Croatia’s Zagorje region during the 1940s colonisation still proudly maintain their heritage, creating what locals describe as a little Zagorje in the heart of Slavonia.

Among those keeping the story alive is Vjekoslava Pratnemer, known locally as teta Slava, whose family arrived in Slavonia during the Second World War.

“I was born in 1942. We moved to Jarmina. And we stayed… on our little place on the hill,” she recalls.

Her parents first arrived in Karađićevo before the family moved to Jarmina. Like many other families settling across Slavonia at the time, they travelled by train.

Jarmina’s Zagorje community has its roots in villages and towns around Marija Bistrica, Zlatar, Budinščina, Hrašćina, Velškovec and Krapina.

(Photo: Vinkovačke jeseni)

Although generations have now been born in Slavonia, elements of the Kajkavian dialect and traditions of Hrvatsko Zagorje have survived.

The word kaj, characteristic of the Zagorje dialect, is heard less frequently among younger generations, but older residents continue to use it, particularly when they gather together.

‘Slavonian, but Zagorka’

Pratnemer remembers the early days of the Vinkovci Autumns, one of eastern Croatia’s best-known traditional cultural events.

This year’s theme, “Train of the Slavonian Plain”, focuses on the people who arrived in Slavonia during the 20th century, when the region offered food, work and a new home to families from across Croatia and neighbouring areas.

Among them were people from Dalmatia, Herzegovina, Bosnia, Lika and Kordun, as well as a significant number of Zagorci.

Pratnemer remembers how the Zagorje community celebrated its traditions during the late 1960s.

“We loved presenting our customs and traditions. Let people see that even though we were poor and uneducated, we knew how to make our own happiness and enjoy ourselves. Everything was always beautiful,” she says.

There were apple-picking celebrations, traditional costumes, music and dancing, followed by dishes associated with Zagorje, including turkey with mlinci, soups, štrukli and bučnica.

Musicians from Zagorje would sometimes arrive to play, while the local community danced into the early hours.

Asked whether she considers herself a Slavonian Zagorka, Pratnemer gives a simple answer:

“As our Štef says, I am a Slavonian, but a Zagorka.”

The community has also created a formal organisation to ensure those traditions survive.

The Kaj Homeland Club was established around two decades ago. Its members later built a replica of a traditional Zagorje house, with the original structure arriving from Mihovljan in 2009.

“As it was built there, we rebuilt it here, stone by stone,” says club president Mario Culi.

The club has around 80 members and aims to preserve the customs brought to Slavonia by their parents and grandparents.

Alongside the club, the Zvonko Ban Cultural and Artistic Society (KUD) takes part in the Vinkovci Autumns each year, presenting traditional dances, costumes and customs.

The community also maintains links with Zagorje, with members regularly visiting friends and relatives there and welcoming visitors to Jarmina.

Their heritage house serves as a small local museum and is open to visitors passing through the area.

(Photo: Vinkovačke jeseni)

A Croatian story of migration

Jarmina has around 2,000 residents, with a large proportion tracing their roots to Zagorje.

For municipal leader Mario Matić, the community forms part of the wider story of how modern Slavonia was shaped by migration.

“We are currently in the easternmost part of Hrvatsko Zagorje – in Jarmina,” he says with a smile, referring to the community’s distinctive identity.

“The Zagorje spirit has lived here for many years, beginning in 1941. We are proud of that tradition.”

“Many people enriched Slavonia with their arrival, their effort and their work. The Zagorac is part of that mosaic,” Matić says.

The story of Jarmina’s Zagorci is therefore not simply one of preserving a regional dialect or a collection of traditional dishes.

(Photo: Vinkovačke jeseni)

It is a story of how communities carried their identity, memories and customs across Croatia, adapting to a new landscape while retaining a connection with the place their families once called home.

In the flat Slavonian plain, a little piece of Zagorje continues to live on.