Končar was proclaimed a People's Hero of Yugoslavia by the Communists. The August 1942 issue of "Proleter" named him first on the list of the first ten People's Heroes. He quickly became one of the greatest Partisan icons. The later conventional depiction of his sentencing and execution says that, when asked whether he would ask for clemency, Končar said "Milosti ne tražim, niti bih vam je dao" ("I do not ask for mercy, nor would I have it on you"); when they aimed their guns at his back, he said "Kukavice, pucajte u prsa" ("Shoot in the chest, cowards!").