During World War II, in the harsh winter of 1942, Kovačić and Vladimir Nazor volunteered for the Partisan forces to set an anti-fascist example for the world. At that time, Goran was already ill with tuberculosis and Nazor was advanced in age, but they were motivated by their consciences. Kovačić was killed by Serbian Chetnik troops in an east-Bosnian village of Vrbica near Foča on 13 July 1943.[citation needed]