Moravice (formerly known as Komorske Moravice until 1919, thereafter as Srpske Moravice until 1991) () is a settlement in north-western Croatia, situated at the far east of the mountainous region of Gorski kotar in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. It is part of the Vrbovsko municipality. The population is 664 (as of the 2011 census). As of its foundation on 3 March 2008, it is the seat of a encompassing Radigojna, TomiÃÂi, Bujevci, VukeliÃÂi, Nikà ¡iÃÂi, DokmanoviÃÂi, Jakà ¡iÃÂi, DragoviÃÂi, Topolovica, MeÃÂedi, VuÃÂiniÃÂi, KomleniÃÂi, Radoà ¡eviÃÂi, TiÃÂi, Mlinari, à ½akule, CareviÃÂi, Gornji Vukà ¡iÃÂi, Donji Vukà ¡iÃÂi, MatiÃÂi, Donji VuÃÂkoviÃÂi, Gornji VuÃÂkoviÃÂi and PetroviÃÂi.
It was recorded as Morauitze on the 1673 map of .
Moravice was first mentioned on 22 February 1481 in a document freeing the citizens of GriÃÂ from tariffs in Moravice and elsewhere.
The Serbs were settled in Moravice 1585 on the proposal general of Karlovac Josip Turn.
The original name of the settlement was known as Donje Moravice, in contrast to Gornje Moravice (now Brod Moravice).
In 1914, at the beginning of WWI, many Serb railway workers of Komorske Moravice were arrested for questioning, after which they were released back to their houses.
In 1922, the name of the town was officially changed from Komorske Moravice to Srpske Moravice.
In 1933, Chetnik formations were organised on the territory of Srpske Moravice, Gomirje and LiÃÂka Jesenica. They had a minor political influence until 1941 when a large number of them were killed in the first wave of liquidations.
Srpske Moravice received tap water in 1939âÂÂ1940 after the construction of a pipeline.
On 13 April 1941, as Ante Paveliàwas driving through Srpske Moravice on his way to Zagreb with his Ustaà ¡e in black limousines, they were pelted with fliers on which was written, "Flee O dogs across the Drina, flee Vlachs, Paveliàcomes!" ().
By order of the interior ministry of the NDH on 10 May 1941, all Serbs who had arrived on NDH territory after 1 January 1900 and their children were to be fired from all services, as well as any Serbs known for "anti-Croat activity" (). Many were fired before then, however. Firing them was not always possible, however. For example, at the end of April or beginning of May 1941, the railway workers of Srpske Moravice merely had to swear fealty to Ante PaveliÃÂ, because without them the railway lines would cease to function.
After the mass arrests in the region began in late May and early June, many Serbs fled from the Ogulin-Plaà ¡ki valley to Delnice kotar, where even the Ustaà ¡a administration was more tolerant of Serbs. Such cases became more frequent in the later years of the war. One survivor, Veljko TomiÃÂ, stated, "To all Croats from Moravice to Rijeka one ought doff their hat, but from Moravice to Ogulin they did not usually help them, but capture them" (). The mass arrests began in Mrkopalj on 13 June 1941. Nada Tomiàmanaged to escape to her neighbour Marija Leà ¡ and hide under her bed after seeing the Ustaà ¡e enter the store of her husband Miloà ¡ Tomiàand beat her son Veljko TomiÃÂ. The Ustaà ¡e looted the store and took her husband away, and five days later returned to confiscate the store. The same day as TomiÃÂ, priest Vladimir DujiÃÂ, railway worker Vlado DokmanoviÃÂ, Chetnik president Ljuba DokmanoviÃÂ, Ilija VuÃÂiniÃÂ, Simeon MiriÃÂ, Nikola KvrgiÃÂ, Milan father of Pero Kvrgiàand variously 19 or 29 others were arrested in Moravice.
All were taken bound at the gendarmerie in Moravice. The mother of Milka Bunjevac together with Catholic convert Rade Jakà ¡iàpleaded in vain for the release of Ilija VuÃÂiniàwith Moravice's Ustaà ¡a tabornik à  tigliÃÂ, only to be informed VuÃÂiniàhad been deemed dangerous to the Croatian state. Simeon Miriàhad a Croat mother, Nada MatiÃÂ, who secured his release from à  tigliÃÂ, hands bloodied from the binding wires. Miriàand his brother fled to the GMS the next day, after which Nada transferred his papers to the GMS, returning with letters for Moravice, following the distribution of which she was accused by someone of "spreading propaganda" and temporarily detained by the Ustaà ¡e, after which she fled with her young son to the GMS. A picture of Peter II KaraÃÂorÃÂeviàwas found in the house of one of the arrestees, who was ordered to carry it to the street and then in front of all residents of Moravice exclaim, "I tear the picture of king Peter!" (), his young son crying as they took him away.
The same day as the arrests, the students at the Ogulin gymnasium from Srpske Moravice were handed out commemorative certificates in honour of PaveliÃÂ's birthday. Returning home, Pero Kvrgiàwas informed at the Ogulin station by his godfather that the Ustaà ¡e arrested his father. The arrested were shoved into a train wagon at Moravice with the sign "rotten fruit" (), then transported to Ogulin. Veljko Tomiàasked his friend Ankica Marheta, who was among the Ustaà ¡e of Ogulin, to save his father, which Marheta replied she could do if he could bring two signatures of approval from the Croats of Moravia, but despite many attempts, Tomiàcould only secure the signature of the butcher Vilko MihaljeviÃÂ, who told him he would sign it "a hundred times if it helps" (), but Tomiànever saw his father again. From Ogulin there to the Danica concentration camp, where a number of Moravice residents managed to visit them on multiple occasions, noting their decreasing health over time. At Danica, the old priest DujiÃÂ's glasses were taken away, depriving him of his vision. From Danica they were taken to the Jadovno concentration camp or pag, passing by train through Ogulin one last time.
On 12 July, the Ministry of Deportation () was founded in Moravice, led by teacher Ivan Poriàand manager Franjo NagliÃÂ, who was also an Ustaà ¡a tabornik. The board included carpenter Josip à  tigliÃÂ, economist Mato Falak and opÃÂinski naÃÂelnik Anton MufiÃÂ. Already on 24 July, the Drà ¾avno ravnateljstvo za ponovu had finished a list of those who would be deported as part of the third mass arrest in Srpske Moravice, this time together with their families. The list included 50 people, who were to be taken to the Caprag camp (part of the Sisak concentration camp system). These were mostly non-farmers.
On 3 August, the Ustaà ¡e arrested 85 (or 63) Serb railway workers in Moravice. These were transferred to Ogulin, then Koprivnica, then Gospiàthen Jadovno where they were killed. On the night of the 2nd, Duà ¡an Rajnoviàof TomiÃÂi had been on duty together with Lazo Jakà ¡iÃÂ. After midnight, a man approached them and warned them that the Ustaà ¡e had arrived at the station and were arresting night shift workers. A freight train had arrived around 23:00 carrying 8 Ustaà ¡e, awaited by a group of Ustaà ¡e from Moravice with lists of those who would be arrested. The two hid atop the tin-covered locomotive of series 32. Cviteà ¡iàarrived with an armed Ustaà ¡a, approached by Ivan Brajdiàwho asked, "Where are the locomotive watchers?" Brajdiàanswered he didn't know. Lazo, afraid, surrendered himself, and they bound him immediately. Nikola and Jovo KovaÃÂeviÃÂ, Simo VuÃÂkoviÃÂ-Mljekarov of PetroviÃÂi, Nikola Nikà ¡iàNestorov of Bunjevci and several others were already tied up in front of the office of nadzornik PoliÃÂ. After that, Duà ¡an Rajnoviàfled home and at dawn left for Radigojna, warning Simik Juzbaà ¡iàand Simo RajnoviÃÂ-MiÃÂiÃÂin not to come to work, but only Juzbaà ¡iàheeded the warning. RajnoviÃÂ-MiÃÂiÃÂin never returned. Duà ¡an Hajdin was another surviving witness, who saw the Ustaà ¡e arrive and when the arrests began he notified the station manager à  arÃÂeviàand the Italian rail command, but neither undertook anything, just watching it happen.
Simo Jakà ¡iàwas to work that morning, but at 3:00 Mihajlo Jakà ¡iàwarned him that the Ustaà ¡e had arrived at the station and by 4:00 rounded up all of the night shift work. Simo's wife had is daughter Milka tell manager à  arÃÂeviàthat Simo was sick, and since à  arÃÂeviàdemanded to hear from her mother, her mother came in person, and so Simo survived. Mihajlo Jakà ¡iàhimself fled across the Dobra to Jakà ¡iÃÂi, warning second shift workers along the way while his children Stojan and Marija went to the station to call their father in sick only to encounter wailing in front of the Ferenc house and, not far from JoviÃÂin duÃÂan, a column of bound Serbs walking two-by-two toward the station. Marija asked Mitar Jakà ¡iÃÂ-MiljaljÃÂev, "Mitar, what is this?" () but he merely silently lowered his shoulders in response to her asking multiple times. ÃÂoko DokmanoviÃÂ-Stevkov fled his house undressed. Nikola Matiàof Donji VuÃÂkoviÃÂi attempted to flee that morning, but was captured by the Italians, who turned him over to the Ustaà ¡e. Nikica Kosanoviàand Marko Tomiàasked the Ustaà ¡e if they were on the list, but although they were not, they loaded them into the train anyway. ÃÂoko Mià ¡ljenoviàwas already in the train when a Croatian barber from Moravice with whom he played cards, Rudolf Hirnik, vouched for him. After the arrests at the station ended, the house to house arrests began. In the morning, they transferred the arrestees from the Sokolski dom to the railway station and put them on a freight train. Their wives and children called out to them, and laid themselves across the tracks. The Italians removed them from the tracks "in the roughest manner" (), and the Ustaà ¡e finished loading the wagons and the train drove off to Ogulin, eventually killed at Jadovno.
A day or two after the railway station arrests, the Ustaà ¡e were supposed to round up the remaining Serb workers at their houses. They walked the streets crying "Najbolje â rasap!" meaning "Flee and save yourselves". They were assisted by locals in the location of the Serbs' addresses. The whole event mirrored what happened to the Serbs of Moravice in 1914 at the beginning of WWI, only then they were immediately released to their houses after questioning. In mid-August, this all ended thanks to the Italian re-occupation of the region.
On 8 August, the arrests of those on the list of 50 made on 24 July began. The Ustaà ¡e and gendarmes followed the orders of the opÃÂina administration, collecting entire families, which were allowed to take with them only bare necessities, the rest of their possessions and estate being confiscated by the state. On this day, 17 families were imprisoned in the elementary school in Srpske Moravice. They spent one day there, but instead of being taken to Caprag, they were released to their homes by order from Ante PaveliÃÂ, who had just stopped the deportations of Serbs.
On 25 August, the name of the town was officially changed from Srpske Moravice to Hrvatske Moravice. The article "Croatian Moravice - with that a great shame that ruled the last decades has been undone" () had been published in ' on 29 July 1941.
On 2âÂÂ3 June 1942, 21 Serbian rebels surrendered to Italian forces in Hrvatske Moravice.
On the 17th between Fuà ¾ine and LiÃÂ, about 40 Partisans dressed in Ustaà ¡a uniforms but with Partisan caps carried out a rifle attack on a train travelling from Plasa to Delnice. 9 railway workers jumped out and dispersed into the forest, but the conductor Aleksander à  paner of Hrvatske Moravice was heavily wounded, receiving first aid in LiÃÂ.
At 5:00 on 19 June, the train tracks between Hrvatske Moravice and Vrbovsko were disassembled. When an Italian military patrol happened upon the tracks, it was attacked with a machine gun from the forest, which killed one soldier. The attack on the patrol was then repelled.
On 3 July, a freight train was derailed together with 5 cistern wagons between Brod Moravice and Hrvatske Moravice. Then on the 8th, Partisans attacked a freight train after it left Hrvatske Moravice. The attack was repelled.
The volunteer fire department DVD "à ½eljezniÃÂar" Moravice was founded on 27 January 1998, and is today part of the VZ grada Vrbovsko. Its current commander is Aleksandar Potkonjak.
There was a water supply problem in Moravice in February 2012.
On 28 April 2012 after 17:00, a fire burned in the forest along the railway between Moravice and Brod Moravice.
Moravice was hit by the 2014 Dinaric ice storm.
An older house in Moravice burned down the morning of 6 April 2020.
As of 2021, there were only 73 inhabitants under the age of 20.
In 1870, Komorske Moravice opÃÂina had 906 houses and 6107 people.
In 1875, Komorske Moravice was under Skrad obÃÂina and formed its own porezna obÃÂina for taxation purposes, encompassing Bunjevci (village), DokmanoviÃÂi, DragoviÃÂi, Jakà ¡iÃÂi, Mià ¡ljenoviÃÂi, Nikà ¡iÃÂi, VukeliÃÂi, CareviÃÂi, KomleniÃÂi, MatiÃÂi, MeÃÂedi, PetroviÃÂi, Radoà ¡eviÃÂi, Radigojna, TiÃÂi, TomiàDraga, Topolovica, VuÃÂiniàSelo, VuÃÂkoviÃÂi Gornji, VuÃÂkoviÃÂi Donji, Vukà ¡iÃÂi and à ½akulje. Their parish was the Eastern Orthodox parish of Komorske Moravice. Of these villages, Bunjevci, DokmanoviÃÂi, DragoviÃÂi, Jakà ¡iÃÂi, Mià ¡ljenoviÃÂi, Nikà ¡iÃÂi and VukeliÃÂi were considered to constitute Komorske Moravice proper, with 106 houses and 638 people.
In 1890, the opÃÂina of Komorske Moravice (court at VuÃÂiniÃÂi), with an area of , belonged to the kotar and electoral district of Vrbovsko (Vrbovsko court) in the à ¾upanija of Modruà ¡-Rieka (Ogulin court and financial board). There were 350 houses (425 in 1910), with a population of 2480 (the same as Vrbovsko opÃÂina): 1233 male and 1247 female; 2957 in 1910. The majority were Croatian or Serbian speakers, but spoke 95 Hungarian, 65 German, 29 Slovene, 2 Ruthenian, 2 Czech, 2 Slovak and 6 spoke other languages. The majority were Eastern Orthodox, but 566 were Catholic, 29 Protestant, 9 Jewish and 1 Eastern Catholic. Its 23 villages and 5 hamlets were encompassed for taxation purposes by a single porezna opÃÂina, under the Delnice office.
In 1890, the Kolodvor portion of Moravice had 21 houses and 349 people. They attended the school in Kolodvor Komorske Moravice, which also had a post office and a telegraph in addition to the train station it was named after. Administered and taxed by Komorske Moravice.
In 1910, the entire opÃÂina had no resident soldiers. Militarily, Komorske Moravice fell under the and 26th Landsturm Infantry Brigade, both at Karlovac.
At the 1920 Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Constitutional Assembly election in Modruà ¡-Rijeka County, Srpske Moravice voted mainly for the Democratic Party and to a lesser extent the People's Radical Party.
In 2020, the option of dividing Vrbovsko into 4 municipalities () was being considered, one being Moravice.
Presidents of local committee:
There is a restaurant in Moravice, Pink Panter.
The water storage unit Borik in Donji VuÃÂkoviÃÂi, with water ultimately from Skrad, with a capacity of , is responsible for Moravice, Gornji VuÃÂkoviÃÂi, Gornji Vukà ¡iÃÂi, Donji Vukà ¡iÃÂi and CareviÃÂi. The water storage unit in Radoà ¡eviÃÂi, with a capacity of , is also responsible for part of Moravice and for TiÃÂi, KomleniÃÂi and Poljana.
Moravice has a post office, an infirmary, the partial elementary school "Nikola Tesla", a railway trade school, an Udaljeni pretplatniÃÂki stupanj (UPS).
Beginning in 2013, the 7 stage long Cycling Trail of Gorski Kotar () passes through Moravice.
The school garden was started in the second half of the 20th century and remains unprotected.