Wikipedia talk:Requests for mediation/Draza Mihailovic/sources relating to collaboration

I started this page so we can keep track of sources that concern Mihailovic and his possible collaboration. I've only placed quotes or given synopses here that more or less directly relate collaboration issues to Mihailovic himself, leaving aside ones that treat Chetniks in general. Some of these sources and quotes were provided by other editors on other pages, but the bulk are ones that I've found on line or in books from the library. I do not yet have much material form Williams or Tomašević's works, but I've requested them from the local library, and I'm still working my way through Roberts work. Please feel free to add material here, but do please provide page numbers.

Also, to be perfectly clear, I'm putting this up so we have ready reference to these materials, since the question as to who has claimed Mihailovic did or did not collaborate has come up often. --Nuujinn (talk) 00:41, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Sources Refuting Mihailovic's Collaboration

From Heather William’s “Parachutes, Patriots, and Partisans; The Special Operations Executive and Yugoslavia, 1941–1945,” University of Wisconsin Press, 2003 pp. 216 – 217 "There appears to have been no hard evidence available to prove any collaboration between Mihailovic and the Germans in Serbia. [British Major Eric] Greenwood was adamant that collaboration with either German or Bulgarian occupation forces was out of the question in his area of Eastern Serbia. Cairo SOE [Special Operation Executive] had talked of there being enough evidence to justify withdrawing support, but although this was constantly promised to the Foreign Office, it never seems to have been forthcoming … Attempts by the Germans and by Nedic to make some sort of deal with Mihailovic were rebuffed … None of the British officers attached to the commanders in Serbia witnessed any collaboration between the forces they were with and the Germans … The appellation ‘collaborator’ was allowed to be attached to his [Mihailovic’s] name, not out of conviction, but for convenience. Tito had made it clear from the outset that the British could not have Mihailovic and the partisans. The British chose the Partisans."

Nora Beloff, “Tito’s Flawed Legacy, Yugoslavia & the West: 1939-84,” London: Victor Gollancz, Ltd., 1985: p. 78 By then [June 1943] the British were actively encouraging the Chetniks to link up with the Italians. As Peter Boughey, head of the Yugoslav section of the SOE, London, later recalled: “we certainly told Mihailovic to be in touch with the Italians. We knew the situation in Montenegro and wanted him to be able to get Italian weapons when the Italians withdrew, collapsed or surrendered.” [reference note 41: interview with Boughey] With all this going on, the Communists had an easy time collating evidence of “Chetnik” collaboration…. There was however no truth in the allegation that Mihailovic himself ever supported the Axis against the allies.

Stevan K. Pavlowitch, "Hitler's New disorder, the second world war in Yugoslavia, Columbia University Press, 2008" : "M. had not personally come to a Pecanac-type arrangement". Never describes Mihailovic as a collaborator, although describing Chetnik-Axis arrangements and sporadic collaboration.

Walter R. Roberts, "Tito, Mihailovic and the Allies, Rutgers University Press, 1973" : same as above.

Jean-Christophe Buisson, "Le Général Mihailovic, héros trahi par les Alliés, Perrin, 1999" : Mihailovic biographer and staunch supporter. Refutes all allegations of collaboration by Mihailovic himself, although collaboration by Chetnik groups is mentioned.

Thierry Mudry (CNRS), "Histoire de la Bosnie-Herzégovine : Faits et controverses, Ellipse 1999" : mentions Chetnik collaboration and war crimes, but seriously doubts Mihailovic was personnally guilty. Considers that documents incriminating M. (instructions to commit ethnic cleansing, etc) were faked on several occasions.

Jean Jacques, could you provide actual quotes and page numbers for these? The reason I put this page up was so that we could check sources directly. --Nuujinn (talk) 08:04, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

I'll add page numbers tomorrow, sorry. Jean-Jacques Georges (talk) 09:26, 6 June 2010 (UTC)

Richard J. Evans, "The Third Reich in power" : mentions the Chetniks as the first resistance movement in occupied Europe (passing mention only). Does not mention collaboration. Mentions Tito's efforts to reach a truce with the Germans so he'd have more time on his hands to defeat the Chetniks (also mentioned in Roberts and Pawlovitch)

Archie Brown, "The Rise and fall of communism" : mentions the Chetniks as resistance movement. Mentions that they "at times" collaborated with Axis troops, but does not mention responsibility of Mihailovic himself. Calls Churchill's decision "controversial". Says that M was executed "on the basis" of collaboration by the Chetniks, not "because of" his own collaboration.

François Fejtö, "Histoire des démocraties populaires" : mentions the Chetniks as resistance movement. Mentions that subordinates of Mihailovic collaborated with Axis troops against Partisans and committed war crimes, does not incriminate Mihailovic himself.

Sources Claiming Mihailovic Collaborated

Passing Mention

These references come from sources that do not treat Mihailovic in much detail. --Nuujinn (talk) 00:42, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Ramet, Sabrina P. (2008). Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia at peace and at war: selected writings, 1983 - 2007. LIT Verlag Münster.. ISBN 3037359129, 9783037359129. p. 49. "Symbolic politics occupied almost as much time as real politics in 1989, with Congress taking time out out to honor Axis-Collaborator Draza Mihailovic (though without mentioning his collaboration with the Axis)...."

Pavlaković, Vjeran (2005). Serbia since 1989: politics and society under Milosević and after. Washington: University of Washington Press. . ISBN 0295985380. p. 408 "Moreover, Serbia has had to endure other problems as well, such as (list of items, corruption, bribery money laundering ) ... the rehabilitation of Axis collaborator Draza Mihailovic...."

Byford, Jovan (2008). Denial and repression of antisemitism: post-communist remembrance of the Serbian Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović. Central European University Press. ISBN 9639776157, 9789639776159. p 2-3 "The Serbian Orthodox Church also helped revise the popular perceptions of collaboration during the Nazi occupation of Serbia (1941-1944) and enhance the public image of a number of collaborators and World War II nationalist leaders such as Generals Draza Mihailovic and Milan Nedic or Dimitrije Ljotic (Popov, 1993).

Bennett, Christopher (1995). Yugoslavia's bloody collapse: causes, course and consequences. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. ISBN 1850652325, 9781850652328. p. 11 "They and their followers began fighting each other, and, in the case of Mihailovic, who was executed for collaboration after the war, there was cooperation with with occupiers."

Enver Redžić, Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Second World War p. 156 "For more than two years Mihailovic, with the help of the Yugoslave governement in exile, concealed his collaboration from the Allies, primarily from the British government....Even after numerous warnings by the British, M. continued his collaboration, disregarded the warnings, and continued to ask the British for help. ...Support from the Allies could not continue while he was collaborating with the Germans and Italians.

Radio London and resistance in occupied Europe: British political warfare By Michael Stenton p.326 "Many of the Chetniks dispersed by the German Offensive in Serbia enlisted in the Nedic militia. Mihailovic and his staff, convinced that armed rebellion would not be a serious option in the foreseeable future, allowed this."

Werner Roehr (zusammengestellt), Europa unterm Hakenkreuz-Okkupation und Kollaboration (1938-1945), 1994, s.358 "Though he himself [Draža Mihailović] shrewdly refrained from giving his personal view in public, no doubt to have a free hand for every eventuality (e.g. Allied landing on the Balkans), he allowed his commanders to negotiate with Germans and to co-operate with them. And they did so, more and more..." [Field Marshal Maximilian von Weichs, commander, Army Group F (stationed in the Balkans)]

Peter Broucek, Ein General in Zwielicht; Errinerungen Edmund Glaises von Horstenau, Wien-Koeln-Graz, 1988; p.421 German officers are quoted as describing Mihailović's Chetniks as the most useful collaborating formation in WWII occupied Yugoslavia, also citing the fact that General Mihailović had a Wehrmacht liaison officer: "The units that could really be used against the Partisans were Serbian and partly Russian volunteers and - Draža Mihailović's people. My liaison officer with them was a certain Major, Ritterkreuztraeger." [General Edmund Glaise von Horstenau, German military attaché in Zagreb]

Detailed Treatment

These sources do go into detail. --Nuujinn (talk) 00:42, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Cohen, Philip J. (1996). Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 0890967601, 9780890967607.

p, 41 "In fact, Mihailovic's efforts to establish cooperation with the Germans had so favorably impressed Capt. Josef Matl of Abwehr (German Military Intelligence) that, in October of 1941, Matl reported that the Chetnik detachment of the Yugoslav army under the command of Col. Draza Mihailovic had placed themselves at the disposal of the German Wehrmacht."

p. 42 "Prior to the November meeting, Mihailovic also had attempted to forge cooperative relationships with committed Axis collaborators. As early as May, 1941, a little more than one month after the German's had invaded Yugoslavia, Mihailovic sent his second lieutenant, Vladimir Lenac, to Belgrade to meet with Ljotic. Lenac, who had headed the Zbor youth movement at Zagreb University, informed Ljotic of Mihailovic's interest in collaboration...."

p.42 Nedic at his war crimes trial testified on 9 jan 1946 that Mihailovic's goals: "(1) To establish order and peace in Serbia. (2) To begin a joint fight against the communist-led Partisan detachments, precisely against units of the Communist Party. (3) That I should establish a conection with [the Germans] and legitimize Draza to the Germans....All of these proposals and conditions were accepted by my side, Draza got money, and the Germans approved this"

p. 43 "Nevertheless, even as Mihailovic offered to cooperate with Tito against the Germans, he promised to join the Nazis in fighting the Partisans. It appears that Mihailovic kept his word only to the Nazis. During November, 1941, Partisan-held territory near the Serbian town of Pozarevac was attacked jointly by one German battalion, the Hungarian Danube Flottila, and four Serbian formations; Ljotic's 6th Volunteer Detachment, two of Nedic's detachmets, six Chetnik detachments led by Pecanac, and Mihailovic's Chetniks"

p 45-6 Following the surrender of Italy in September, 1943, some of Dujic's Chetniks fled to the hills or defected to the rapidly growing Partisan movement, but a few thousand almost immediately began to collaborate with the Germans. This new Chetnik-Nazi relationship was reinforced when, in a short-wave transmission on November 19, 1943, Miahilovic instructed Dujic to cooperate with the Germans, adding that Mihailovic himself could not openly do so 'because of public opinion'.

p. 57, "In mid-August, 1944, Dragi Jovanovic, Milan Nedi, and Draze Mihailovic secretly met in the village of Razani. Nedic agreed to provide one hundred million dinars for wages and to request that the Germans supply Mihailovic with arms and ammunition. All of the money and a portion of the reqeusted arms and ammunition were soon delivered. On September 6, under German authority and formalized by Nedic, Mihailovic took command of the Serbian State Guard, the Serbian Volunteer Corps, the Serbian Border Guard, and all Chetniks."

p 61 Quotes Major Peta Martinovic-Bajica, officer of the Serbian State Guard and intelligence office for Mihailovic "Milan Nedic collaborated with the occupier, the Serbian State Guard collaborated; the Serbian Volunteer Corps collaborated; the Chetniks--with a few exceptions--collaborated; I, myself, collaborated, too--[however,]not one of us did it for the sake of himself but for the sake of the Serbian people."

p. 129 "Recently, Serbia had publicly rehabilitated several of it's World War II-era collaborators. In 1992, a monument to the sometime Nazi collaborator Draza Mihailovic was erected with great ceremony and mass attendance...."

Ramet, Sabrina P. (2006). The three Yugoslavias: state-building and legitimation, 1918-2005. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253346568, 9780253346568.

p. 8 "Moreoever, as already suggested, Draza Mihailovic entered into open collaboration with fascist Italy and cooperated with the Germans on certain occaisions as well. Mihailovic was quite open about the fact that he regarded the anti-Axis Partisans, rather than the Axis occupation forces, as his principal foe."

p. 133 Sept 1941, M. enters secret negotiations with Nedic's gov. On or about 15 oct, Col Popovic on behalf of Nedic brought Mihailovic 500K dinar in addition to a similar sum paid 4 oct. On 26 Oct, Popovic delivered another 2.5M dianr. "Acting in the name of the Nedic government, Acimovic served as the key liaison between teh Germans and Mihailovic. By mid-November 1941, M had placed 2,000 of his men under the direct command of General Nedic, and a few days later these Chetniks joined the Germans in a military operation against the Partisans."

p. 134 "Indeed, a U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) report prepared in April 1944 'suggested that the general [Mihailovic] should be viewed in the same light as Nedi, Ljotic, and the Bulgarian occupation forces."

p. 148 "By early summer, the Italians were arming and supplying about 10,000 'legal' Chetniks in the Italian zone in the NDH"\r"Mihailovic was aware of and condoned the collaborationist arrangements into which Jevdjevic and Trifunovic-Brecannin entered".

p. 148 "Mihailovic himself was drawn into this collaborative web, and by late August, he was sanctioning use of his units in an anti-Partisan campaign with Ustasa and Italian troops."

p 149 "But by September, SIS (Britain's Secret Intelligence Service) had 'concluded that Mihailovic had failed in the crucial matter of persuading Serbs and Croats to fight side by side'. Evidence also emerged, in the form of an enigma decrypt, of Mihailovic's collaboration with Nedic--evidence which was considered daming in British eyes."

p. 535 "...as is the fact that in new textbooks introduced in Serb elementary schools in 2001, Chetnik leader Draza Mihailovic was portrayed as the leader of an anti-Axis resistance movement with nothing said about his collaboration with the Axis."

Walter Roberts, "Tito, Mihailović, and the Allies, 1941-1945," Duke University Press, 1987; ISBN 0822307731

p 61, july 24, white house issues a statement after the king's visit "in which 'the fine acheivements of General Mihailovic and his daring men' were described as 'an example of spontaneous and unselfish will to victory.' How little was known in Washington about events in Yugoslavia can be seen by the fact that this statement was issued at a time when Mihailovic's forces were inactive against the Germans and collaborating with the Italians"

p 89. Hudson's meesages came out of a "backlog" "Hudson's recommendation was that Mihailovic be forced to declare his policy and to dissociate himself from those Cetniks who were nominally under his command, but in effect acted as auxiliary Italian troops."

p. 93 "Finally, the Foreign Office ws persuaded of Mihailovic's collaboration, at least with the Italians. Mihailovic, Sargent told Matthews, 'has frankly admitted that he has maintained contact with the Italians and ... that he is getting supplies from them".

p. 93 On Feb 28th, 1943 in the village of Donje, Mihailovic addressed his troops, and this "respresented, to all intents and purposes, the beginning of the end of British-Mihailovic collaboration, although the end did not come until about a year later" Bailey reported that Mihailovic claimed that the Serbs were completely friendless, that King Peter and the government in exile were 'virtually prisioners of the British" and that 'as long as the Italians comprised his only adequete source of help generally, nothing the Allies could do would force him to alter his attitude towards them'. and that 'his enemies were the Ustashi (Ustase), the Partisans, the Croates, and the Moslems; that when he had dealt with them, he would turn to the Germans and the Italians'

Please take note that Roberts never considers M. as, first and foremost, a collaborator. Jean-Jacques Georges (talk) 11:37, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, Roberts seems to be very strict in letting the sources speak for themselves and seldom draws any conclusions himself. --Nuujinn (talk) 12:17, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

I'd like to stress that both Roberts and Pavlowitch, who seem to be unbiased and neutral authors, go into detail about the collaboration of Chetnik groups, yet none of them calls Mihailovic a traitor (and Pavlowitch is quite harsh about his actions, tactics and methods). Jean-Jacques Georges (talk) 17:26, 31 May 2010 (UTC)