Daksa island near Dubrovnik

Daksa is a small uninhabited island near Dubrovnik

Typical of almost all islands in Croatia, Daksa is not remotely unusual in its physical appearance, rocky and covered with evergreen vegetation and sturdy, old pine trees. A Franciscan monastery which was constructed at some point during the year 1281 is one of Daksa's only signs of life of any kind.

This tiny little island was the site of a brutal massacre carried out at the hands of the Yugoslav partisans upon their arrival in Dubrovnik at the end of October 1944, as the second world war still raged on.

Upon the entrance of the partisans, 300 citizens of Dubrovnik were arrested, many of them were prominent public figures.

The exact number is disputed among varying sources of information, but as we understand it, only 48 to 53 of those arrested were aprehended under the accusation of being Nazi sympathisers and collaborators - they were summarily executed on Daksa without trial of any kind.

In the September of 2009, authorities came upon the bodies of six victims of the Daksa massacre, a statement by the Daksa 1944/45 Association (Udruga Daksa) announcing that a mass grave of 48 bodies had been discovered on the island followed shortly after.

Only as recently as June 2010 were the remains of the Daksa massacre victims re-interred and finally given a decent, respectful burial. Nobody has ever been tried or punished for the massacre.

Daksa now plays the role of the innocent, beautiful green islet.

Until 1990, it was forbidden to visit Daksa.

Other than the tourist and some fishermen here and there, Daksa is relatively a place of solitude and even seagulls seem to pass straight over it, not wanting to land despite its handy location as a safe haven and a look out point.

To this very day, people still claim that the only activity on Daksa is paranormal, and the only beings who remain there are the lost souls of the dead.