Ivan Srebrenjak or Srebrnjak (1903 – 21 May 1942) was the head of Soviet intelligence network of NKVD for the Balkans at the beginning of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia.:"the head of the Russian intelligence network in the Balkans was Ivan Srebrnjak, also known as Antonov, Ivancic, Doctor, and by other aliases, a Yugoslav worker from Slavonski Brod who had been trained by the NKVD and assigned to work" Srebrenjak was born in 1903 in Austro-Hungarian region of Slavonia that became part of Yugoslavia in 1918. Srebrenjak became a member Yugoslav Communist Party since 1928. After he killed a Yugoslav policeman in 1930 he left Yugoslavia and became a member of a group of Stalins killers known as "liquidators" headed by Josip Broz Tito. When Axis forces occupied Yugoslavia in 1941 Srebrenjak returned to Yugoslavia and set a NKVD center in Zagreb, a part of Red Orchestra network. Tito considered him as an enemy and requested  from Stalin to relieve Srebrenjak from that position, which was refused by Stalin. Soon, somebody informed Gestapo and Ustaše about Srebrenjak and he was captured. In captivity Srebrenjak was the first person to identify Tito as leader of Communist resistance movement in Yugoslavia to German and Ustaše authorities. To minimize damage for his position Tito ordered to Stevo Krajačić to organize  murder of Srebrenjak and on 21 May 1942 Srebrenjak was killed in Ustaše prison. Murder of Srebrenjak allowed Tito to seize and stabilize his position of leader of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. In  Soviet Union Srebrenjak became a Soviet citizen with name Petar Petrovič Antonov who was considered as one of the most capable intelligence officers. Initially, there were four centers of NKVD in Zagreb, parts of Red Orchestra, one operated by Andrija Hebrang,  second by Stevan Krajačić,  third by Josip Kopinič and  fourth by Ivan Srebrenjak. During World War II When Axis forces attacked Kingdom of Yugoslavia in April 1941, Srebrenjak came from France to Zagreb to set "information point" of Soviet intelligence in Zagreb. In Zagreb Srebrenjak became a head of Soviet intelligence network of  NKVD for the Balkans. Srebrnjak operated from this center in Zagreb together with his wife Frančiška Srebrenjak (nee Klinc), who was  secret agent of the Yugoslav police and later Gestapo.:"Drugi, vojno-obveščevalni center je vodil Ivan Srebrnjak - Antonov s Frančiško Klinc, tajno sodelavko jugoslovanske policije in gestapa." According to some sources she had a love affair with Stjepan Đaković, the older son of Đuro Đaković. Srebrenjak was the first victim of Tito's ambitions to became the leading Stallin 's intelligence officer not only for Yugoslavia but also for other Balkan countries as well.:" Прва жртва шпијунских амбиција „друга Валтера" тада. постаје његов стари познаник Иван Сребрењак" In a telegram sent to Tito on 1 July 1941, Kopinič asserted that Popović, Končar and Srebrenjak are enemy spies.:"In a cable sent to Tito on July 1, KopiniC accused Popovi<5 , Koncar, and Srebrnjak (Antonov), an agent of the Soviet military counterintelligence, of being spies." Srebrenjak believed that some of Titos close associates, like Ivo Lola Ribar and Boris Kidrič were in service of the Yugoslav regime At the beginning of August 1941 Tito sent telegram to Kominterna insisting that Srebrenjak should transfer all of his men to Communist Party of Yugoslavia who will train them as diversants because he did not organize this training himself and members of the party lost confidence in him.:"У току августа, Тито је упутио више депеша Коминтерни. Почет- ком месеца тражи да Иван Сребрењак (Антонов), који је у Загребу радио за совјетску обавештајну службу, а требало је, према договору са руководством КПЈ, ..." Tito hated Srebrenjak because he reported to Stalin about Titos struggle for leadership of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. He requested from Stalin to relieve Srebrenjak from his post accusing him for being Gestapo collaborator, but this attempt of Tito failed thanks to Srebrenjaks powerful Soviet patrons. Ustaše and Gestapo were already informed about activities of Srebrenjak by Slavko Đukić who was  associate of Srebrenjak, but it was Joco Đaković who was younger son of Đuro Đaković and who was arrested in December 1941 and identified Srebrenjak to Ustaše.
Ivan Srebrenjak or Srebrnjak (1903 – 21 May 1942) ran a Soviet intelligence network for the NKVD in the Balkans at the beginning of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia.:"the head of the Russian intelligence network in the Balkans was Ivan Srebrnjak, also known as Antonov, Ivancic, Doctor, and by other aliases, a Yugoslav worker from Slavonski Brod who had been trained by the NKVD and assigned to work" Srebrenjak was born in 1903 in Austro-Hungarian region of Slavonia that became part of Yugoslavia in 1918. Srebrenjak became a member Yugoslav Communist Party since 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, a part of Red Orchestra network. Tito considered him as an enemy and requested approval from Stalin to relieve Srebrenjak of that position, which was refused by Stalin. Subsequently, Srebrenjak was denounced to the Gestapo and Ustaše and he was captured. In captivity Srebrenjak was the first person to identify Tito as leader of Communist resistance movement in Yugoslavia to German and Ustaše authorities. To minimize further damage to his position Tito ordered to Stevo Krajačić to organize the murder of Srebrenjak and on 21 May 1942 Srebrenjak was killed in Ustaše prison. This murder allowed Tito to seize and stabilize his position of leader of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. In the Soviet Union Srebrenjak became a Soviet citizen with name Petar Petrovič Antonov who was considered as one of the most capable intelligence officers. Initially, there were four centres of NKVD in Zagreb, parts of Red Orchestra, one operated by Andrija Hebrang, a second by Stevan Krajačić, a third by Josip Kopinič and a fourth by Ivan Srebrenjak. During World War II 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 Soviet intelligence network of the NKVD for the Balkans. Srebrenjak operated from this centre in Zagreb together with his wife Frančiška Srebrenjak (nee Klinc), who was a secret agent of the Yugoslav police and later Gestapo.:"Drugi, vojno-obveščevalni center je vodil Ivan Srebrnjak - Antonov s Frančiško Klinc, tajno sodelavko jugoslovanske policije in gestapa." According to some sources she had a love affair with Stjepan Đaković, the elder son of Đuro Đaković. 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 as well.:" Прва жртва шпијунских амбиција „друга Валтера" тада. постаје његов стари познаник Иван Сребрењак" In a telegram sent to Tito on 1 July 1941, Kopinič asserted that Popović, Končar and Srebrenjak are enemy spies.:"In a cable sent to Tito on July 1, Kopinić accused Popović , Koncar, and Srebrnjak (Antonov), an agent of the Soviet military counterintelligence, of being spies." Srebrenjak believed that some of Tito's close associates, like Ivo Lola Ribar and Boris Kidrič were in service of the Yugoslav regime At the beginning of August 1941 Tito sent a telegram to Komintern insisting that Srebrenjak transfer all of his men to Communist Party of Yugoslavia control for training them as diversants because he did not organize this training himself and members of the party lost confidence in him.:"У току августа, Тито је упутио више депеша Коминтерни. Почет- ком месеца тражи да Иван Сребрењак (Антонов), који је у Загребу радио за совјетску обавештајну службу, а требало је, према договору са руководством КПЈ, ..." Tito hated Srebrenjak because he reported to Stalin about Tito's struggle for leadership of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. He requested from Stalin to relieve Srebrenjak from his post accusing him of being a Gestapo collaborator, but this attempt of Tito failed thanks to Srebrenjak's powerful Soviet patrons. Ustaše and Gestapo were already informed about activities of Srebrenjak by Slavko Đukić who was an associate of Srebrenjak, but it was Joco Đaković who was younger son of Đuro Đaković and who was arrested in December 1941 and identified Srebrenjak to Ustaše.
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