My grandfather's obituary

My mum, Ljubica Erickson, was clearing out a drawer a few weeks ago when she came across an old Yugoslav newspaper. She was just about to put it in the recycling when she noticed that it contained an obituary of her father, my grandfather, Branko Petrović. Milica Durić must have sent it to us when it was published in 1968. As to why it was published in 1968 - 25 years after his death - I can only speculate. The obituary is unsigned and we have no idea who wrote it - perhaps one of his former school pupils? 
The obituary is written in the rather florid style of Yugoslavia under Tito, but it is still an interesting read I think. 
Mum translated it and I reproduce the full text here:

From: Students or Pupils’ Platform Kikinda (Yugoslavia) 1968

Obituary

BRANKO PETROVIĆ

“Happy people are the ones that die with the belief that they deserve the tears of the ones who survive them.” Frederick the Great

To some people life is given generously and all they have to do is drink it up, but others have to run after it soon after their birth and when they finally catch up with it and begin to share their life with others somebody comes along and takes it all away from them. Then instead of a spring song there is darkness of pain and sighs. The worst diversion that leads to this loss is war. That is where the dreams of Branko Petrović were also lost, the professor who knew that blood serves for washing of honourable hands and the greatest ideal of people in war and darkness is freedom. And one more communist of Kikinda’s gimnazija [high school] sacrificed himself. It happened when we needed him the most.

Branko Petrović was born on the 1^st of December 1903 in a Srem village, Lezhimir, in a family of modest means. There he finished primary school. After gimnazija he studied philosophy in Belgrade. During his studies he had many financial difficulties. That did not stop him gaining very good exam results and remaining amongst the best students.

Professor Heldrih, his colleague says about him:

“I knew him as a professor who was hard-working and supportive of students. He loved his work because he loved those he was working with. He believed greatly in them and he confided in them. Sometimes naively. That probably cost him his life. He was a man of wide culture and great zest for his work. He knew and read equally Marxism and the Bible.”

Professor Dragoljub Gavrić holds bright memories about this man, pedagogue and fighter. He writes: “I know Branko Petrović as a man of wide interests. Apart from his own specialism, he was interested in both social and natural science and even in religious studies. Thus he achieved a high level of general culture, which a person needs for work. In his relationships he showed great humanity, respect of other peoples’ views and he wanted to help everybody, especially the youth. In this respect he showed great belief and trust in everybody, but especially in his pupils. I think he hated exploitation of any kind the most. His colleagues trusted and respected him, both of which are necessary for an educator. He was an excellent mathematician and methodologist and by his teaching he created generations with good mathematical education.”

The house where he lived was a meeting place of the resistance. He was arrested several times. The last time, 16 May 1943, he was arrested in the gimnazija and taken to prison in Zrenjanin. Milica Djurić [Branko Petrovic’s partner] went several times to see Špiler [the Nazi Gauleiter of the region] and asked for his release. But it was all in vain, because this progressive professor was a “big poisoner of youth”. He was executed with 160 others on 6^th of September 1943. It was the Germans’ revenge for the murder of one of their soldiers in Šupljija.

That is how was lost a man who with his blood lit up one of our suns of our spring.