Ivan Srebrenjak or Srebrnjak (1903 â 21 May 1942) ran a Soviet intelligence network for the NKVD in the Balkans at the beginning of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia.
Srebrenjak was born in 1903 in Slavonia and became a member of the Yugoslav Communist Party in 1928. After he killed a Yugoslav policeman in 1930 he left Yugoslavia and became a member of a group of Stalin's killers known as "liquidators" headed by Josip Broz Tito. When Axis forces occupied Yugoslavia in 1941 Srebrenjak returned to Yugoslavia and set up an NKVD centre in Zagreb, part of the Red Orchestra network. Tito considered him an enemy and requested approval from Stalin to relieve Srebrenjak of that position, which was refused by Stalin.
In 1942, Srebrenjak was informed on to the Gestapo and the Ustaà ¡e, resulting in his capture. In captivity Srebrenjak was the first person to identify Tito as leader of Communist resistance movement in Yugoslavia to German and Ustaà ¡e authorities. To minimize further damage to his position Tito ordered the murder of Srebrenjak and on 21 May 1942 Srebrenjak was killed in an Ustaà ¡e prison. This murder allowed Tito to seize and stabilize his position of leader of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.
Srebrenjak was born in 1903 in the village of Oprisavci near Slavonski Brod, at the time in Austria-Hungary (modern day Croatia). In 1928 he became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and in 1930 he murdered a police agent in Zagreb under the orders of the communist party. Because of this murder he had to leave Yugoslavia.
In the Soviet Union Srebrenjak became a Soviet citizen with name Petar PetroviÃÂ Antonov who was considered one of the most capable intelligence officers.
Initially, there were four centres of the NKVD in Zagreb, parts of the Red Orchestra, one operated by Andrija Hebrang, a second by Stevan KrajaÃÂiÃÂ, a third by Josip KopiniÃÂ and a fourth by Ivan Srebrenjak.
After leaving Yugoslavia Srebrenjak first went to Paris in France and joined a group of Stalin's killers known as "liquidators" headed by Josip Broz Tito, whose members were also Vittorio Vidali, Vlajko Begoviàand Ivan (Stevo) KrajaÃÂiÃÂ. In Paris Srebrenjak killed Yugoslav agent Ilija à  umanovac.
When Axis forces attacked Kingdom of Yugoslavia in April 1941, Srebrenjak came from France to Zagreb to run an "information point" for Soviet intelligence in Zagreb. In Zagreb Srebrenjak became a head of the Soviet intelligence network of the NKVD for the Balkans. Srebrenjak operated from this centre in Zagreb together with his wife FranÃÂià ¡ka Srebrenjak (nee Klinc), who was a secret agent of the Yugoslav police and later the Gestapo. According to some sources she had a love affair with Stjepan ÃÂakoviÃÂ, the elder son of ÃÂuro ÃÂakoviÃÂ.
Srebrenjak was the first victim of Tito's ambitions to become Stalin's intelligence officer not only for Yugoslavia but also for other Balkan countries. In a telegram sent to Tito on 1 July 1941, KopiniÃÂ asserted that PopoviÃÂ, KonÃÂar and Srebrenjak are enemy spies. Srebrenjak believed that some of Tito's close associates, like Ivo Lola Ribar and Boris KidriÃÂ were in the service of the Yugoslav regime.
At the beginning of August 1941 Tito sent a telegram to the Comintern insisting that Srebrenjak transfer all of his men to Communist Party of Yugoslavia control for training them as saboteurs because he did not organize this training himself and members of the party lost confidence in him.
Tito hated Srebrenjak because he reported to Stalin about Tito's struggle for leadership of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. He requested approval from Stalin to relieve Srebrenjak of his post, accusing him of being a Gestapo collaborator, but this attempt failed thanks to Srebrenjak's powerful Soviet patrons.
The Ustaà ¡e and the Gestapo were already informed about Srebrenjak's activities by Slavko ÃÂukiÃÂ, who was an associate of Srebrenjak, but it was Joco ÃÂakoviÃÂ, the younger son of ÃÂuro ÃÂakoviàwho was arrested in December 1941, who identified Srebrenjak to the Ustaà ¡e.
In February 1942 Srebrenjak was arrested by the Ustaà ¡e and tortured until he revealed names of Soviet agents in Croatia, Greece, Bulgaria and Italy. This was a major success for the Ustaà ¡e while Axis forces arrested ten to fifteen people based on Srebrenjak's testimony, including Andrija Hebrang. Srebrenjak and Hebrang were the first people to identify Josip Broz Tito as the leader of the Communist Partisan forces to the Ustaà ¡e and Axis special police, though Srebrenjak gave his name as Josip BrozoviÃÂ. Tito sent KrajaÃÂiàto kill Srebrenjak.
According to CenÃÂiÃÂ, Srebrenjak's wife Francià ¡ka was released from an Ustaà ¡e prison under suspicious circumstances, Hebrang was exchanged while Srebrenjak was killed in an Ustaà ¡e prison under the orders of Josip Broz Tito.