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Pavle Đurišić
Павле Ђуришић
Born(1907-07-09)July 9, 1907
Lješanska nahija, Principality of Montenegro
DiedApril 12, 1945(1945-04-12) (aged 37)
Lijevče polje, Independent State of Croatia
Allegiance Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland (1941-1945)
 Kingdom of Italy (1942-1943)
 Nazi Germany and Nedić's Serbia (1943-1945)
Service/branchArmy
Years of service1941-1945
RankLieutenant Colonel
Commands heldChetnik movement in Montenegro
Serbian Volunteer Corps
Montenegrin Volunteer Corps
Battles/warsWorld War II
Awards Order of the Iron Cross (2nd Class) (Nazi Germany)

Pavle Đurišić (Serbian Cyrillic: Павле Ђуришић; July 9, 1907 – April 12, 1945) was a Montenegrin Serb Chetnik commander. He led a significant proportion of the Chetniks of Montenegro during World War II. Beginning in early 1942, he increasingly collaborated with the Italians in actions against the Yugoslav Partisans. In 1943, he carried out several massacres against the Muslim population of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sandžak and participated in the Axis' Fourth Enemy Offensive alongside Italian troops. He was captured by the Germans in May 1943, then escaped and was re-captured. After the capitulation of Italy, he was released by the Germans and began to collaborate with them and the Serbian quisling state. In 1944, he created the Montenegrin Volunteer Corps with assistance from the Germans, Milan Nedić, and Dimitrije Ljotić. In late 1944 he was decorated with the Iron Cross 2nd Class by the German commander in Montenegro. He was killed by elements of the Armed Forces of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) near Banja Luka after he was captured in an apparent trap set by them and Sekula Drljević.

World War II

Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy invaded Montenegro in April 1941, the Germans from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Italians from Albania. The Germans withdrew and left the Italians to occupy the area. Almost immediately the Montenegrins developed grievances against the Italians, particularly regarding the expulsion of Montenegrin people from the Kosovo region and Vojvodina, but also due to loss of territory and revenue.[1] In mid-July 1941, there was a general uprising against the Italians, led by the communists but including large numbers of nationalists and former Yugoslav Army officers, some of whom had been recently released from prisoner-of-war camps. The rebels seized control of small towns and villages early on, but the Italians regained control over all towns and communication routes within six weeks. In the aftermath of the Italian repression, a split developed between the communist leaders of the uprising and the nationalists that had participated.[2] As a result, the nationalists, including then Captain Đurišić, who was popular in his own Vasojević clan of northern Montenegro, withdrew into the hinterland.[3] The focus of the nationalists such as Đurišić was to avoid provoking the Italians but protect the mountain villages if they were attacked.[4] Đurišić and his local Chetniks were also impatient to turn on the Muslims and Albanians in the region.[3]

Italian Occupation of Montenegro 1941-1943

In October 1941, Captain Đurišić was appointed as commander of all regular and reserve troops in central and eastern Montenegro and parts of the Sandžak by Draža Mihailović.[5]

In early January 1942, Đurišić returned from a trek to Serbia with detailed instructions bearing the signature of Mihailović. These instructions included directives for 'cleansing the Muslim population from Sandžak and the Muslim and Croat populations from Bosnia and Herzegovina' amongst other orders.[6] Some historians argue that there is a convincing case that the document was a forgery made by Djurišić after he failed to reach Mihailović in December 1941 because Mihailović had been driven out of Ravna Gora by Operation Mihailović.[7][8][9] However, other historians consider the document to be authentic and attribute the instructions to Mihailović.[10][11]

Despite his possession of these instructions, Đurišić initially had very little influence on the non-communist elements of the Montenegrin resistance and was unable to develop an effective strategy against the Italians or Partisans in the first few months after his return to Montenegro. However, during the first few months of 1942, Đurišić's Chetnik detachment became more active, especially in eastern Montenegro and the Sandžak against local Muslims.[12] Following the Partisan occupation of Kolašin in January and February 1942, during which the Partisans committed atrocities against the population of the town, Đurišić recaptured it and held it as a Chetnik stronghold until May 1943.[13]

Đurišić making a speech to the Chetniks in the presence of General Pirzio Biroli, Italian governor of Montenegro.

In early March 1942, Đurišić arranged one of the first collaboration agreements between the Italians and the Chetniks. During the next three months, about 1,500 Chetniks under Đurišić's command were officially organised and recognised as Italian auxiliary troops for use against the Partisans, and were supplied, armed and paid by the Italians. During the rest of 1942, Italian operations in conjunction with their Chetnik auxiliaries forced the remaining Partisans out of Montenegro,[14] after which the Chetnik auxiliaries were used by the Italians to police the countryside.[15] For most of this time, Đurišić operated fairly independently in northern Montenegro and was described as 'a law unto himself'.[16]

In June 1942, just as the Italians and Chetniks were pushing the Partisans out of Montenegro, Mihailović arrived there having been forced out of Serbia by the Germans. Mihailović was accompanied by his staff and a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) liaison officer, and after moving around for a while he established his base at the village of Gornje Lipovo, a few miles from Đurišić's headquarters at Kolašin. Mihailović and his staff had few troops and relied on Đurišić for protection. Not long after Mihailović arrived in Montenegro, Đurišić told Mihailović's SOE liaison officer that he was available to act independently and in defiance of Mihailović. While Đurišić and the other Chetnik commanders in Montenegro nominally recognised Mihailović as their supreme commander, they rarely obeyed him.[17]

In December 1942 at the village of Šahovići near Bijelo Polje, a conference of Chetniks from Montenegro and Sandžak met. The conference was dominated by Đurišić and its resolutions expressed extremism and intolerance, as well as an agenda which focussed on restoring the pre-war status quo in Yugoslavia implemented in its initial stages by a Chetnik dictatorship. It also laid claim to parts of the territory of Yugoslavia's neighbors.[18]

Operation Weiss and 'Cleansing Actions'

In December 1942, concerned about the possibility of an Allied landing in the Balkans, the Germans began planning the Fourth Enemy Offensive codenamed "Operation Weiss", in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The size of the planned offensive required the involvement of both the Army of the Independent State of Croatia and the Italians. Late in the planning, the Italians began to prepare and equip Chetnik detachments, including that of Đurišić, for involvement in the operation.[19]

In early January 1943, the Chetnik Supreme Command ordered Montenegrin Chetnik units to carry out "cleansing actions" against Muslims in the Bijelo Polje county in the Sandžak region of north-eastern Montenegro. On 10 January 1943, Đurišić reported that Chetniks under his command had burned down 33 Muslim villages, killed 400 members of the Muslim self-protection militia supported by the Italians, and had also killed about 1,000 Muslim women and children.[20]

As Italian auxiliaries, Đurišić's detachment was so dependent on the Italians for arms and transport that it had not left Montenegro on 18 January 1943, only two days before the first phase of Operation Weiss was to begin.[21]

Đurišić's report of 13 February 1943 informing Mihailović of the massacres of Muslims in the counties of Čajniče and Foča in southeastern Bosnia and in the county of Pljevlja in the Sandžak.

In mid-February, during their advance north-west into Herzegovina in preparation for their involvement in the Fourth Enemy Offensive, Đurišić's detachment received further orders for 'cleansing actions' against Muslims, and committed further atrocities against the Muslim population, this time in part of the Pljevlja county in Sandžak, and Čajniče county and part of the Foča county in Bosnia. In a report to Mihailović dated 13 February 1943, Đurišić reported that his forces had killed about 1,200 Muslim fighters and about 8,000 old people, women, and children, and destroyed all property except for livestock, grain and hay, which they seized.[20]

The total number of deaths caused by the anti-Muslim operations commanded by Đurišić between January and February 1943 is estimated at 10,000. The casualty rate would have been higher had a great number of Muslims not already fled the area, most to Sarajevo, when the February action began.[20]

By the end of February 1943, Đurišić's Chetniks were resisting Partisan attempts to move east from the Neretva.[22][23] After the Battle of Neretva, during which the Partisans forced a crossing of the Neretva River against faltering Chetnik opposition, Đurišić's detachment, numbering about 2,000 fighters, fell back to Kalinovik where they were badly mauled by the Partisan Second Proletarian Division in late March. Falling back further towards the Drina River, Đurišić had assembled about 4,500 Bosnian and Montenegrin Chetniks around Foča by the end of the first week in April, but was in desperate need of supplies. Shortly after this, the Italians withdrew most of their troops from Foča and abandoned most of the Sandžak. For the rest of April 1943, Đurišić fought a holding action against the Partisans along the Drina River with his 3,000 remaining fighters.[24]

Capture and Release

The Germans determined to follow-up Operation Weiss with a Fifth Enemy Offensive codenamed "Operation Schwarz". In early May 1943, the Germans entered the Sandžak and eastern Montenegro. Đurišić withdrew to Kolašin with about 500 fighters and joined forces with Serbian Chetniks commanded by Dragutin Keserović.[25] On 14 May 1943, a forward detachment of the German 1st Mountain Division entered Kolašin. Đurišić and the Chetniks did not resist their capture, and there were no casualties. The Italians vigorously protested his capture but were overruled by the Germans.[26] Đurišić was sent to a prisoner of war camp in Galicia from which he escaped, reportedly in August 1943, and after some time reached Serbia.[27]

He was caught by the Serbian quisling government and handed over to the German occupation authorities.[28] Soon after, the German Special Envoy in Belgrade Hermann Neubacher, Nedić and the German Military Commander in South-East Europe General Hans Felber arranged for Đurišić to be released from prison.[29] In November 1943, Đurišić returned to Montenegro where he received supplies including arms and ammunition from the Germans with which to fight the Yugoslav Partisans.[29] At this time Đurišić established closer ties with Dimitrije Ljotić, whose Serbian Volunteer Corps provided him with weapons, food, typewriters, and other supplies, and with Milan Nedić who promoted Đurišić to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and appointed him assistant to the commander of the Serbian Volunteer Corps, Colonel Kosta Mušicki.[30]

German Occupation of Montenegro 1943-1944

In spring of 1944, Đurišić, with assistance from the Germans, Milan Nedić, and Dimitrije Ljotić, established the Montenegrin Volunteer Corps. It was formally a part of the Serbian Volunteer Corps.[31] The Corps consisted of some of Đurišić's former troopers that were released from German captivity, but the majority were Chetniks that remained in Montenegro under the name of "national forces". By this time, whilst he still formally owed allegiance to Yugoslavia,[32] he also owed some allegiance to the Germans and Nedić [33] who released, promoted and supported him. Đurišić developed the Montenegrin Volunteer Corps in Montenegro and Sandžak and it consisted of between 7,000 and 8,000 men.[34] Lieutenant Heusz, former German liaison officer for Sandžak Chetnik commander Vojislav Lukačević, was assigned to watch Đurišić. On May 30, 1944, Heusz sent a detailed briefing with instructions that Đurišić was responsible "for control and assuring of the execution of the directives issued by the German command posts" and "liaison between the staffs and units of the Montenegrin Volunteer Corps on the one hand and the German command posts on the other, especially in the course of operations against the bands [the Partisans]." Collaboration between the forces of Đurišić and the Germans continued through the summer and on into autumn.[27]

Entitlement document for the award to Đurišić of the Iron Cross - 2nd Class. (left) Front page of Lovćen reporting on the award. (right)

On October 11, 1944 the German Plenipotentiary General in Montenegro, General-Major Wilhem Keiper awarded Đurišić the Iron Cross (2nd Class) in the name of the Führer and the German High Command.[30]

Withdrawal from Montenegro and Destruction

In early December 1944, the Germans and Đurišić's forces were obligated to withdraw from Montenegro, part of the way together, with the Germans going to Austria and Đurišić's forces to northeastern Bosnia to join Mihailović.[27] From the time he joined Mihailović in northeastern Bosnia, Đurišić was very critical of Mihailović's leadership, and argued strongly for all the remaining Chetnik troops to move to Slovenia. When Mihailović remained unconvinced, Đurišić decided to move to Slovenia independent of Mihailović, and arranged for Ljotic's forces already in Slovenia to meet him near Bihać in western Bosnia to assist his movement. When he left Mihailović, he was joined by Chetnik ideologue Dragiša Vasić and the detachments commanded by Zaharije Ostojić and Petar Baćović as well as a large number of refugees.[35]

In order to get to Bihać, Đurišić made a safe-conduct agreement with elements of the Armed Forces of the NDH and with the Montenegrin separatist Sekula Drljević. The details of the agreement are not known, but it appears Đurišić and his troops were meant to cross the Sava River into Slavonia where they would be aligned with Drljević as the "Montenegrin National Army" with Đurišić retaining operational command.[35] Đurišić, however, appears to have tried to outsmart the NDH forces and Drljević by sending his sick and wounded across the river, but retained his fit troops south of the river, after which he began moving them westwards. Harassed by both the NDH troops and Partisans, he reached the Vrbas River, which they began to cross. In the Battle of Lijevče polje north of Banja Luka the combined Chetnik force was badly beaten by a strong NDH force which included German-supplied tanks.[35]

Following this defeat and the defection of one of his sub-units to Drljević, Đurišić was induced to negotiate directly with the leaders of the NDH forces about the further movement of his Chetniks towards Slovenia. However, this appears to have been a trap, as he was attacked and captured by them on his way to the meeting. Following this, Đurišić, Vasić, Ostojić and Baćović were killed, along with some Serbian Orthodox priests and others.[35]

Both the NDH forces and Drljević had reasons for ensnaring Đurišić. The NDH forces because of the mass terror committed on the Muslim population in Sandžak and southeastern Bosnia and Drljević because Đurišić was in support of a union of Serbia and Montenegro which was in opposition to Drljević's separatism.[35]

Aftermath

A small part of Đurišić's troops escaped and went west; however a larger part of them, left without a leader, were integrated into Drljević's forces and were dispatched towards the Austrian border.[35] A portion of both groups were later caught by the Yugoslav Partisans in Slovenia.[35] The majority of those who successfully crossed into Austria were returned by the Partisans to Slovenia, where, alongside other collaborationist forces, they met their downfall in May. Of the entire force that began with Đurišić in Montenegro and other Chetniks that joined him for the trek less than a fourth survived. A few weeks later, Drljević, who had fled to Austria, was discovered by followers of Đurišić and killed.[35]

Commemoration

In May 2002, preparations for a memorial complex dedicated to Đurišić near Berane, Montenegro began.[36] In June 2003, Vesna Kilibarda, the Montenegrin Minister of Culture, banned the construction of the monument saying that the Ministry of Culture had not applied for the approval to erect monuments.[37] The Association of War Veterans of the National Liberation Army (SUBNOR) objected to the construction of the monument saying that Đurišić was a war criminal who was responsible for the deaths of many colleagues of the veterans association and 7,000 Muslims.[38] The following month the Montenegrin government forbade the unveiling of the monument stating that it "caused public concern, encouraged division among the citizens of Montenegro, and incited national and religious hatred and intolerance."[39] A press release from the committee in charge of the construction of the monument stated that the actions taken by the government were "absolutely illegal and inappropriate."[40] The stand that was prepared for the erection of the monument was later removed by the police.[41]

Notes

  1. ^ Tomasevich (2001), pp. 138-139
  2. ^ Tomasevich (2001), pp. 140-142
  3. ^ a b Pavlowitch (2007), p.78
  4. ^ Karchmar (1987), p. 386
  5. ^ Milazzo (1975), p. 46
  6. ^ Tomasevich (1975), pp.170
  7. ^ Karchmar (1987), p.397
  8. ^ Pavlowitch (2007), pp.79-80
  9. ^ Malcolm (1994), p.179
  10. ^ Milazzo (1975), p.64
  11. ^ Tomasevich (1975), pp.256-261
  12. ^ Milazzo (1975), p.47
  13. ^ Pavlowitch (2007), pp. 105-106
  14. ^ Pavlowitch (2007), p. 106
  15. ^ Tomasevich (2001), pp. 142-143
  16. ^ Pavlowitch (2007), p. 109
  17. ^ Pavlowitch (2007), pp. 109-113
  18. ^ Pavlowitch (2007), p. 112
  19. ^ Milazzo (1975), pp. 113-116
  20. ^ a b c Tomasevich (1975), pp. 258-259
  21. ^ Milazzo (1975), pp.115-116
  22. ^ Milazzo (1975), pp.124-125
  23. ^ Tomasevich (1975), p.239
  24. ^ Milazzo (1975), pp.135-136
  25. ^ Milazzo (1975), p.144
  26. ^ Tomasevich (1975), pp. 252-253
  27. ^ a b c Tomasevich (1975), pp. 349-351
  28. ^ Tomasevich (1975), pp. 349-350
  29. ^ a b Ramet (2006), pp. 134-135
  30. ^ a b Cohen (1996), p. 45
  31. ^ Tomasevich (1975), p. 441
  32. ^ Tomasevich (1975), p. 351
  33. ^ Tomasevich (2001), p. 222
  34. ^ Tomasevich (1975), p. 350
  35. ^ a b c d e f g h Tomasevich (1975), pp. 447-448 Cite error: The named reference "Tomasevich447–448" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  36. ^ Prijović (2002)
  37. ^ B92 (11 June 2003)
  38. ^ Sekulović (2003)
  39. ^ B92 (4 July 2003)
  40. ^ Prijović (2003)
  41. ^ B92 (7 July 2003)

References

Books

  • Cohen, Philip J. (1996). Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 0890967601.
  • Karchmar, Lucien (1987). Draza Mihailović and the Rise of the Cetnik Movement, 1941-1945. Garland Publishing. ISBN 0824080270.
  • Malcolm, Noel (1994). Bosnia: A Short History. New York University Press. ISBN 0814755208.
  • Milazzo, Matteo J. (1975). The Chetnik Movement & the Yugoslav Resistance. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801815894.
  • Pavlowitch, Stevan K. (2007). Hitler's New Disorder: The Second World War in Yugoslavia. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 1850658951.
  • Ramet, Sabrina P. (2006). The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building and Legitimation, 1918-2005. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253346568.
  • Tomasevich, Jozo (1975). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941-1945: The Chetniks. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804708576.
  • Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941-1945: Occupation and Collaboration. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804736154.

Websites

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