some did develop skills (like blacksmith Pavao Ljiljak), it was mostly practiced just a side business and aside from the one village shop, farming remained the main occupation. World War II During World War II, the whole place had suffered terrible casualties. After Germany occupied Kingdom of Jugoslavia in 1941, they helped Croats to proclaim the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). Since the entire area at the time was populated not with Croats, but in majority with Serbian population, it was inevitable soon to expect that war crimes Ustaše did throughout Banija, starting from Glina massacres come to Žirovac also. Thus, during 1942, a group of five hundred Ustaša breached to Žirovac and allocated 70 people and killed 25 on the spot, while the rest of those were taken to concentration camps. All these events could not go away without response, so the people of Žirovac soon rebel and 22 August 1941 first unrest started. Organized uprising in Gornji Žirovac begins officially on 2 September 1941, when the communist party (KPJ) gathers people and organizes the first partisan squad. Squad eventually becomes part of the famous 7th Banija Brigade "Vasilj Gaćeša" and there was almost no resident of Žirovac who did not have had some of their own kin in partisans. Brigade found itself in some of the most important and violent battles of the war such as the Battle of Sutjeska which is why many of fighters did not survive the war. In fact, as many as seventy partisans died from Gornji Žirovac alone. In memory of them, a memorial plaque with names was erected at the primary school. Yugoslavia After the end of war and the emergence of second Yugoslavia, or SFRJ as the official name was, people felt that finally, after all these centuries of suffering, wars and foreign rule, peace has finally arrive and sincerely perceived Yugoslavia as their own homeland which freedom they won. Standard of living improved and the population, though still poor and exhausted by wars, was for the first time no longer on the verge of starvation. People educated children for a variety of occupations and some of them finished universities. Many found work in the surrounding towns such as Glina, Dvor, Petrinja or Bosanski Novi where industry boomed as a result of planned economy. Soon, with better standards and then secure jobs in the nearby industrial centers, new migration occurred –