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History of Balkan wars-How they started and who started them.
Drazine famozne instrukcije(vidite kome djele penzije)
INSTRUKCIJA DRAZE MIHAILOVICA MAJORU BORDU
LASICU I KAPETANU PAVLU DJURISICU
20. decembra 1941
Ciljevi nasih odreda jesu:
1.) Borba za slobodu celokupnog naseg naroda pod skiptrom Njegovog Velicanstva Kralja Petra II.
2.) Stvoriti
veliku Jugoslaviju i u njoj veliku Srbiju, etnicki cistu u granicama
Srbije — Crne Gore — Bosne i Hercegovine — Srema — Banata i Backe.
3.) Borba za ukljucenje u nas drzavni zivot i svih jos neoslobodjenih,
slovenackih teritorija pod Italijanima i Nemcima (Trst — Gorica — Istra
i Koruska) kao i Bugarske, severne Albanije sa Skadrom.
4.) Ciscenje drzavne teritorije od svih narodnih manjina i ne-nacionalnih elemenata.
5.) Stvoriti
neposredne zajednicke granice izmedu Srbije i Crne Gore, kao i Srbije i
Slovenije ciscenjem Sandzaka od Muslimanskog zivlja i Bosne od
Muslimanskog i Hrvatskog zivlja.
6.) Kazniti sve Hrvate i Muslimane koji su u tragicnim danima nemilorsdno unistavali nas narod.
7.) U krajevima ociscenim od narodnih manjina i ne-nacionalnih
elemenata izvrsiti naseljavanje Crnogorcima (u obzir dolaze siromasne
nacionalno ispravne i postene porodice) ... Sa Komunistima —
partizanima ne moze biti nikakove saradnje jer se oni bore protiv
dinastije i za ostvarenje socijalne revolucije.
Postupak: sa Arnautima, Muslimanima i Ustasama prema njihovim zaslugama
za njihova gnusna nedela prema nasem zivlju tj. iste treba prepustiti
»Narodnom sudu« — prema Hrvatima koji su pod okupacijom Italijana
postupiti prema njihovom drzanju u danom trenutku.
IZVESTAJ DJURISICA DRAZI MIHAJLOVICU - str. pov. 13. februara 1943. godine ;
Polozaj - NACELNIKU STABA VRHOVNE KOMANDE.
Opis: akcije u Pljevaljskom, Cajnickom i Focanskom srezu protiv muslimana.
,,Operacije su izvrsene tacno po naredjenju i izdatoj zapovesti. Napad
je poceo u odredjeno vreme. Svi komandanti jedinica izvrsili su svoje
dobivene zadatke na opste zadovoljstvo. Otpor neprijatelja bio je slab
od pocetka do kraja. Jedini veci otpor bio je na Trebiskom brdu. Nasi
odredi 7. ovog meseca vec su izbili na r. Drinu, te su borbe zakljucno
sa tim danom bile uglavnom zavrsene, a zatim je nastalo ciscenje
oslobodjene teritorije. Sva muslimanska sela u tri pomenuta sreza su
potpuno spaljena, tako da nijedan njihov dom nije ostao citav. Sva
imovina je unistena osim stoke, zita i sena. Naredjeno je i predvidjeno
prikupljanje ljudske i stocne hrane u odredjenim mestima, za stvaranje
magacina rezervne hrane i ishranu jedinica, koje su ostale na terenu
zbog ciscenja i pretresanja terena...Za vreme operacije se pristupilo
potpunom unistenju muslimanskog zivlja bez obzira na pol i godine
starosti."
ZRTVE: Nase ukupne zrtve su bile 22
mrtva, od kojih dva nesretnim slucajem i 32 ranjena. Kod muslimana oko
1.200 boraca i do 8.000 ostalih zrtava i to zene, dece i staraca..."
Izvor: Dokument broj 37, Zbornik XIV, str. 184-185 iz knjige Branka
Latasa 'Saradnja cetnika Draze Mihajlovica sa okupatorima i ustasama
1941. - 1945. godine'.
CHETNIK GENOCIDAL CRIMES AGAINST BOSNIAKS AND CROATIANS IN BOSNIA AND CROATIA DURING WORLD WAR II (1941-1945)
CHETNIK GENOCIDAL CRIMES AGAINST BOSNIAKS AND CROATIANS IN BOSNIA AND CROATIA DURING WORLD WAR II (1941-1945)
I. Genocide represents the most serious international crime. Its
concept and goal is to totally or partially destroy the national,
ethnic, racial or religious identity of a group of people. Recently,
this notion has been complimented with new international documents. All
signatory countries are obliged to work on preventing genocide. If,
however, genocide is committed, the parties are obliged to punish the
perpetrators no matter when the crime was committed because the statute
of limitations does not apply to such a crime.
The Chetniks not only intended to perform genocide, they carried out
several forms of genocidal crimes against Croatians and Bosniaks in
Bosnia and Croatians in Croatia during World War II from 1941 - 1945.
Until recently, however, this topic was considered taboo and was not
allowed to be written about in the former SFRJ (Socialist Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia). It was either kept a secret or incidentally
mentioned without any concrete facts or numerical indexes. Contrary to
this, the sufferings of the Serbians and the crimes and genocide
committed against them in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia by the
Ustasa Regime in 1941, were basically the only topics written and
spoken about during this time. This served a political purpose with
incorrect and malicious claims against the alleged genocidal Croatian
people.2 Until now, a more orderly and complete investigation of this
problem has been absent. In 1989, with the democratic changes
implemented, the genocide against the Croatians and the Bosniaks began
being written about along with the correct statistics concerning human
casualties in the former Yugoslavian territory from 1941-1945.3 A
scientifically based study is required in order to entirely investigate
the problem. With this opportunity, I hope to present some of the most
significant elements of Chetnik plans and activities during World War
II which, according to all characteristics outlined by the
international community, represent the crime of genocide against
Croatians and Bosniaks.
II. Since its establishment, the Chetnik organization has almost
exclusively served as an instrument of nationalistic and expansionist
Serbian politics. This was also the case in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
(1918-1941). Through force and terror, the Chetnik organization,
together with the army and the police represented a means of getting
even with their political rivals and preserving the centralist, Greater
Serbian political system headed by the King. For this reason, by the
beginning of the war in 1941, some 300 Chetnik and similar
organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and about 200 in Croatia were
established which were recognized for their terror and barbarity along
with the murders of a great number of Croatians and Bosniaks. Through
these organizations, the Greater Serbian political goal attempted to be
realized. They battled against and suffocated every Croatian and
Bosniak aspiration for recognition of their own national values and at
the same time, Serbian national values were often emphasized and there
were attempts to spread Serbian national consciousness among Bosniaks
and some Croatians. After the unification in 1918, with the abolition
of the parliament and government, the Croatian guardsmen and police,
along with the division of territory into six banovinas (guaranteeing
Serbians power within these provinces), Croatia lost its historical
identity and statehood which it had preserved for centuries. Bosnia was
also divided into four banovinas through administrative means but in
such a manner that the Serbs were guaranteed predominance in three of
the banovinas. All of this resulted in corresponding counter-actions
from the Croatian and Bosniak side. One way was the establishment of
the illegal Ustasa movement (1929) whose goal was to create an
autonomous and independent Croatian state outside Yugoslavia.. There
were also the elections of 1938 which demonstrated the unstoppable
strengthening of the Croatian national movement led by the Croatian
Peasant Party. The party demanded a solution with respect to Croatia in
the framework of Yugoslavia which the Greater Serbian monarchist regime
needed to take into consideration due to the intensification of
international conditions in Europe where war was drawing close and to
save the nation from collapse. Consequently, an agreement on August 26,
1939 allowed the establishment of a separate Croatian Banovina within
the Kingdom of Yugoslavia with its own government, parliament,
legislative, administrative and judicial autonomy, which could not be
taken away or decreased without the permission of the Banovina itself.
Thirteen districts from Bosnia and the district of Sid in Vojvodina in
which the Croatian population was the majority, were annexed to the
Banovina but without the Croatian historical territories of eastern
Srijem, Boka Kotorska, Budva and Spic. The Banovina had an area of
65,456 km, with a population of 4,025,601 (according to the 1931
census): 70.1% were Croatians, 19.1% were Serbians and 10.8% were
listed as "others". There were many who were against the agreement: on
the Croatian side these were the supporters of the Ustasa movement who
claimed that the agreement did not solve the Croatian problem, nor did
it create a Croatian independent state; on the Bosniak side, the
majority of the Bosniaks political leadership wanted Bosnia to become a
separate autonomous political territorial unit within its historical
borders. Serbian counter measures followed, so that all Serbian
parties, except the SDS, all nationalist and Greater Serbian
organizations and associations, as well as the army and the Orthodox
Church, opposed the establishment of the Croatian Banovina because they
perceived it to be dangerous for Serbianism and the existence of the
state. They often reacted as chauvinists (who hated Croatians and
everything that was Croatian) and as advocates of their Greater
Serbianism. The movement "Srbi na okup" was developed with the express
purpose of joining the other six banovinas (Vrbaska, Drinska, Dunavska,
Moravska, Vardarska and Zetska) into one administrative entity under
the title "Serbian lands". All the parts of the Croatian Banovina in
which Serbians were the majority, as well as those which Serbians
considered of geostrategic and political importance, for resistance
preparations (Knin, for example), were to be annexed to the "Serbian
lands", all of which intensified international relations. The program
to create a "Greater Serbia" at the expense of Croatian historical
territories (and others) was to remain a constant orientation of the
Greater Serbian and Chetnik political expansionist circle since that
time, during the Second World War, up to today and was to remain the
principle motive for their genocidal actions against Croatians,Bosniaks
and other non-Serbians. For this reason we cannot ignore this pre-war
period and the events during the war on the former Yugoslavian
territory.
III. THE BASIS OF THE PROGRAM OF THE CHETNIK MOVEMENT SERVED AS THE
BASIS OF THE CRIMES AGAINST CROATIANS AND BOSNIAKS WITH CHETNIK UNITS
SERVING AS EXECUTORS OF THE CRIMES
The bloody events of the war on the territory of the shattered Kingdom
of Yugoslavia during 1941 - 1945 were to a great extent the result and
consequence of pre-war conditions and political relations in the new
situation on the terrain. The events were expressed in conflicting
concepts for the renewal of Yugoslavia on the one hand and the efforts
of non-Serbian people, especially Croatians, on the other hand, to
preserve the already existing state or endeavor to establish
independent national states outside Yugoslavia. This was mainly
displayed on the territory of Bosnia and Croatia. Chetniks emphasized
that the twelve-day war, their military defeat, as well as the
occupation and breaking of Yugoslavia by the fascist states had lost
the Serbians their "state and freedom" (since they considered the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia to be merely an extended version of Greater
Serbia and often acted as if it was). They blamed all other non-Serbian
nations primarily the Croatians and Bosniaks. They were particularly
displeased with the formation of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH)
which included Bosnia, eastern Srijem, but not Dalmatia from Zadar to
Split, the eastern part of Konavle and Boka Kotorska, then almost all
of the Adriatic islands, except Hvar, Brac and Pag and a considerable
part of the coast of the Bay of Kvarner and Gorski Kotar which were all
annexed by the Italians (zone I.). Medjimurje and Baranja were annexed
by the Hungarians. The NDH encompassed an area of 102,725 km2, included
a population of 6,640,000 and was administratively divided into 22
large counties with 141 districts, 19 district offices, 31 towns, 1,
005 municipalities, and the city of Zagreb as a separate administrative
headquarters. Serbians made up 30% of the entire population. The NDH
was divided by a demarcation line to the south of Samobor, Glina, Dvor,
Jajce, Fojnica and Visegrad. To the north of this line was German and
to the south Italian-occupied territory. The occupied Italian territory
in the NDH was divided into zones II and III. Civilian, police and
military state authorities were established on NDH territory. The only
political organizations allowed to operate in the NDH were Ustasa
organizations and separate Ustasa units were formed as well.
The Ustasa regime implemented nationally and racially exclusive
politics. The existence and activities of the NDH government were
dependent on the concrete situation on a given territory, especially
Partisan activities, the activities of Chetnik forces on some
territories following the rebellion in 1941, as well as the interests
and will of the occupier. The so called "Bosniak question" in
Bosnia(i.e. NDH) did not pose a problem to the Ustasa leadership with
Ante Pavelic at its head as it adopted Dr. Ante Starcevic`s theory of
"Muslims as the purest part of the Croatian people", in which
"religious differences do not and should not matter".
Serbian nationalists and expansionists of which the Chetniks, as a
military and political organization, were the most well-known and
prominent, could never resign themselves to the creation of any kind of
Croatian state (NDH included). The reason is fairly simple, namely,
they believed that almost 90% of NDH territory (in its maximum program)
represented the territory of the so-called "Serbian lands" (including
the entire territory of today`s Bosnia and most of the territory
belonging to today`s Republic of Croatia), regardless of the fact that
these territories had never been a part of the Serbian state, and that
Croatians and Bosniaks represented a majority in them. For this reason
they believed that the territories of the NDH could only enter into the
so-called "Homogeneous or Greater Serbia", as referred to in documents.
The principle prerequisite for this was the destruction of the NDH and
cleansing of the Croatian and Bosniak population from these territories
in order to annex them to Greater Serbia.
This is one of the reasons why immediately following the proclamation
of the NDH, we come upon the first massive killings of Croatian and
Bosniak citizens by Chetniks and also the burning of a great number of
houses and entire villages in some regions of the NDH. In this way,
Chetnik units, which were part of the regular army of the Kingdom of
Yugoslavia and were designated for "special actions", and individual
Chetnik commanders, during the Derventa retreat, killed 17 Croatian
civilians, five women among them on April 11-13, 1941; killed three
Croatian women, a young girl among them on April 11 in Siveric; on
April 9, 28-29, killed three Croatian civilians and wounded one near
Bjelovar; from April 13-15, killed 20 Croatians, 5 Bosniaks and burned
40 houses near Capljina; on April 15, killed 5 Croatian civilians, one
woman among them near Mostar, and burned down the Croatian villages of
Cim and Ilici. Such murders occurred in other places indicating what
was to soon follow.
After the first shock, as a consequence of the occupation and break
down of Yugoslavia, as well as the creation of the NDH, Chetniks in
Bosnia and Croatia, often in co-operation with the communists, began to
organize a Serbian armed rebellion against the Croatian State, in this
case, the Ustasa NDH (communists were against the occupying force),
calling on past Serbian traditions. At the same time, they worked on
establishing ties with other Chetnik and nationalistic forces on the
territory of former Yugoslavia (primarily with those in Serbia).
Similarly, they worked towards creating a basis for the movement
program in which the genocidal intentions against Croatians and
Bosniaks were clearly emphasized. With respect to this, on June 30,
1941, Stevan Moljevic, one of the main Chetnik ideologists and national
leaders, formed the project, "Homogeneous Serbia", in which the Chetnik
program regarding borders, the social system and foreign policy of
Greater Serbia in the re-established Yugoslavia were outlined months
before the establishment of the Jasenovac camp. The project proposes
that "... today the first and fundamental responsibility is imposed
upon Serbians: to create and organize a homogeneous Serbia which will
encompass the entire ethnic territory in which Serbians live...." This
meant annexing Bosnia and a greater part of Croatia to Serbia through
"migration and transfer of inhabitants" and cleansing. All this was
expressed cartographically in a special propaganda leaflet together
with a corresponding text.
At the same time, a group of Serbian nationalists who had escaped from
Bosnia and Croatia into the annexed part of Dalmatia and linked itself
with the Italian government, sent the Italian government in Rome a
petition asking for the Italian army to occupy and annex Bosnia,and
regions of Dalmatia, Lika, Kordun, and Banija, and to overthrow the NDH
government there. The Italian government used this for its expansionist
pretensions and pressures on NDH in negotiations upon the outbreak of
the rebellion, as well as for negotiations, cooperation and
organization of Chetniks on its annexed and occupied territory in
Bosnia and Croatia.
In July and the beginning of August 1941, a general Serbian rebellion
occurred in almost all of the Bosnian and Croatian territory where the
population was predominantly Serbian. The chief initiators and leaders
of the rebellion were leaders of the Communist Party, and this the CK
KP (Central Committee of the Communist Party) in Croatia and the
Regional Committee of the KPJ (Communist Party of Yugoslavia) for
Bosnia as parts of the CK KPJ, even though there were places where the
rebellion occurred spontaneously, and some places where Chetniks
themselves headed the rebellion. At that time and in those regions, it
was the Serbian population which almost exclusively participated in the
rebellion. There were only some individuals and smaller groups of other
nationalities, primarily members of KPJ and SKOJ (League of Communist
Youth of Yugoslavia), who were involved in the rebellion. The crimes of
the Ustasa Regime against the Serbian people were stressed as the main
reasons for the rebellion with the goal of overthrowing the NDH and the
re-establishment of Yugoslavia. While the communists endeavored to give
the rebellion an anti-fascist and national liberational character,
including all peoples and national minorities on Yugoslavian
territories and to establish their communist power during the war, the
Chetniks gave the rebellion a principally nationalist and expansionist
character, including almost exclusively Serbians and endeavoring to
uphold the old pre-war Greater Serbian system of government with the
King at its head. This soon resulted in a division into two movements,
one headed by the communists in NOP (National Liberation Movement) and
the other by the Chetniks. This soon led to armed battles which lasted
until the end of the war. From the beginning until the end of the war,
members of the Chetnik movement intentionally equated the entire
Croatian and Bosniak people with the Ustasa Regime by accusing them of
the Ustasa crimes against Serbians in the NDH with an attempt to
justify their own crimes using these formal reasons. In fact,
throughout the war, the Chetnik movement had distinct genocidal,
anti-Croatian, and anti-Bosniak characteristics. In Chetnik documents,
it is suggested that the reasons they began the rebellion in the NDH
were only formal while the real reasons lie in the aspiration for the
establishment of an ethnically cleansed Greater Serbia at the expense
of historical and national territories of Croats, Bosniaks and others.
This was to be the basic motive for Chetnik terror and genocidal crimes
against Croatians and Bosniaks in Bosnia and Croatia .The Chetnik
movement was comprised of armed and political organizations which
appeared on NDH territory shortly after the capitulation of Yugoslavia
and the proclamation of the NDH and was active until the end of the
war. By the end of 1941, the entire Chetnik movement was under the
command of Draza Mihailovic.
It is necessary to stress that the USA and Great Britain accepted the
exiled government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as a legitimate
government in June 1941. In July, the other great force of the
anti-fascist coalition, the USSR did the same. Since the Atlantic
Charter of August 14, 1941 stipulated the war aims of the anti-fascist
coalition, including the re-establishment of all occupied states after
the war, including Yugoslavia, its re-establishment was assured. It was
precisely at that time, on Yugoslavian territory, especially on the NDH
territory, that the civil war began between the Communist and the
Chetnik movements to decide what the re-established Yugoslavia would be
like. Throughout the entire war, the Chetnik movement was assisted by
the government in exile and King Peter II situated in London. At the
same time, the Chetnik movement received support and assistance from
Western allies, especially Great Britain until 1944, and afterwards the
USA. In the program of the Chetnik movement during and after the war,
which was delivered by its leader, Draza Mihailovic, to the Yugoslavian
King`s government on September 1941 and accepted, Moljevic`s plan was
supplemented and the following was stated:"... prepare yourself so that
in the days of the collapse, the following actions may be executed....
b) define the "de facto" Serbian lands and allow only Serbian populace to remain in them.
v) especially plan the rapid and radical cleansing of cities and fill them with fresh Serbian elements.
g) develop a plan for cleansing or displacing the peasant population with the goal of a homogeneous Serbian national community.
d) consider the Bosniak question in the Serbian unit as an especially difficult problem and possibly solve it in this phase....
In the "Instructions" of December 20, 1941, regarding the organization,
goals and employment of the Chetnik units, Draza Mihailovic, who was
promoted to General and soon became the minister for the army in the
emigrant government, removed all doubts. According to him, the goal of
the battle of the Chetnik movement under the leadership of King Peter
was:
"... To create a Great Yugoslavia and in it a Greater Serbia,
ethnically cleansed, within the borders of pre-war Serbia, Montenegro,
Bosnia,and regions of Srem, Banat and Backa..."
"... To cleanse the state territory of all national minorities and national elements..."
"... To immediately create mutual borders between Serbia and
Montenegro, as well as between Serbia and Slovenia, cleansing Sandzak
of Bosniak inhabitants, and Bosnia of Bosniak Muslim and Catholic
inhabitants..."
Included was the punishment of all "Ustasas and Muslims" and those
guilty of "our April catastrophe" of 1941, primarily Croatians and
Bosniaks, the colonization of Montenegrins in the cleansed territories,
as well as the establishment of a "political body" which would ensure
all this. The manner in which this was conveyed and explained in the
field is seen in a letter by the commander of the Ozren Chetnik corps
to the commander of the Zenica military Chetnik unit on February 13,
1943. Along with outline goals of the Chetnik movement according to
Draza`s "Instructions", the following is stated:
"... Perhaps these goals appear great and unachievable to you and your
combatants. Remember the great battles for liberty under the leadership
of Karadjordje. Serbia was filled with Turks .In Belgrade and other
Serbian towns, Muslim minarets were prominent and Muslimas performed
their foul-smelling cleansing in front of mosques as they are now doing
in Serbian Bosnia. At that time our homeland was overflowing with
hundreds of thousands of Muslims. Walk through Serbia today. You will
not find a Turk anywhere, you will not even find even one of their
graves, nor even one Muslim grave stone .... This is the best proof and
greatest guarantee that we will succeed in today`s holy battle and that
we will exterminate every Turk from these, our Serbian lands. Not one
Muslim will remain among us.... Peasants and other "little" people will
be moved to Turkey. Our government in London, using the English allied
and benevolent government, will endeavor to gain the approval of the
Turkish government with respect to this (Churchill spoke about this in
Ankara with Mr. Ineni). All Catholics who sinned against our people in
our tragic days, as well as all intellectuals and those well off, will
be destroyed without mercy. We will spare the peasant people as well as
the low working class and make real Serbians of them. We will convert
them into Orthodox by hook or by crook.
There, those are the goals of our great battle and when the crucial
moment arrives, they will be achieved. We have already achieved them in
some parts of our homeland...."
This document directly shows the sources of Chetnik genocidal crimes
against Croatians and Bosniaks which originated from the creation of
the Serbian national state and its expansionist politics. Draza went
further than Moljevic regarding territory, asking for more than 90% of
NDH territory for Greater Serbia in which more than 2,500,000 Catholics
and over 800,000 Muslims lived, making up 70% of the entire population
on that territory, while Serbians comprised almost 30% of the
population. From Draza`s "Instructions", all Croatians,Bosniaks, and
other non-Serbians would have to disappear from this territory, either
during the war or immediately after it. Croatians were given only about
10% of their territory at that time from Karlovac across Zagreb to
Varazdin and approximately 1/5 of the NDH population. Accusations and
allegations against Croatians and Bosniaks for all the evil and
sufferings caused to the Serbians during the war existed for the
purpose of constantly motivating Chetniks to execute punishments, that
is, crimes of genocide against them. This is clearly stated in Draza`s
"Instructions". With respect to this, and with the same goal, is the
exaggeration of Serbian victims caused by the Ustasa or, according to
the Chetniks, by the "Croatians" i.e. the entire Croatian and Bosniak
peoples, starting with the number of 382,000 at the end of 1941, coming
to over 518,000 at the end of February 1942, then 600,000 in October
1942, with 800,000 at the end of 1943 and finally, at the end of the
war, arriving at the number of one million Serbians killed on NDH
territory.This is absurd to any objective researcher and is shown in
the work of the Serb, Dr. B Kocovic. Draza`s threats of revenge against
Croats and Bosniaks as a prerequisite for life and rights in a future
state had the same aim. Also, in other program documents of individual
Chetnik leaders and units similar arguments and goals are expressed.
The "Elaborat" of the Dinara Chetnik division of March 1942, which was
established precisely at that time and encompassed northern Dalmatia,
Lika, and the southwestern part of Bosanska Krajina, also presented its
aims and arguments. The principle goal was the creation of a "Serbian
national state" where "Serbians lived and which Serbians aspire to...",
that is, a "Greater Serbia" which would include Bosnia, a parts of the
regions of Dalmatia, Lika, and other territories with a pure national
system and "King Peter at the head" in which "exclusively the Orthodox
populace would live". The rest was to disappear so that on March 25,
1943, the Dinara division gave an order to its units to "cleanse the
Croatians and Bosniaks" from their territory. At the same time, "the
establishment of a national corridor along the Dinara Mountain to link
Herzegovina with northern Dalmatia and Lika", was assigned as one of
the primary tasks of this division and the Chetnik movement, which they
attempted to achieve, particularly in 1942 and 1943, through the
cleansing of the local Croatian and Bosniak population.
Vukasin Marcetic, the commander of the Chetnik unit "Manjaca", stated
the following at a conference of the Chetnik units on June 7, 1942: "I
believe that Bosnia and Serbia are one nation and I hope that
everything that is not Serbian will be cleansed from Bosnia." Milan
Santic, a Chetnik leader, was even more direct. In his speech, in
Trebinje at the end of July 1942, he stated that the goal of the
Chetnik movement was to "establish a Greater Serbia" as stipulated by
Draza and then said "Serbian lands must be cleansed of Catholics and
Muslims. Only Serbians will live in those lands. The cleansing will be
thoroughly executed. We will drive out and destroy them all, without
exception and without compassion. This will be the starting point of
our liberation". He further stresses that all of this "must be executed
quickly and in one revolutionary momentum" and because of this Chetniks
will "never formally recognize" the NDH.
All of these documents illustrate that Chetnik crimes of genocide against Croatians and Bosniaks were deliberate and planned.
The Bosniaks were even in a greater disadvantage than the Croatians.
While Croatians were allowed the possibility of living in their own,
albeit decreased, territorial units and in a future Yugoslavia, this
possibility, according to Chetnik ideology, did not exist for the
Bosniaks. According to the Serbians, Bosniaks were considered "a
non-national element," an "internal enemy," and "Turks", and their
destruction was considered to be the "most holy of tasks" to the
Chetniks. This depended only on the military and given possibilities of
the Chetniks and on the strength of the other military camps, as well
as the situation in individual regions of this imaginary Chetnik
Greater Serbia. In accordance with this, certain areas were cleansed of
Croatians and Bosniaks.
The organization of Chetnik military units was proposed in order to
accomplish the planned genocidal crimes against Croatians and Bosniaks
on the territory of today`s Bosnia and Croatia, the then NDH. They were
founded on NDH territory (south of the Sava River extending to the
Adriatic Sea) with direct support from Italian and German occupying
forces. On the basis of contracts, these forces provided Chetnik
military units not only with weapons, ammunition, provisions, and
salaries but were also often initiators and protectors of a great
number of mass Chetnik crimes against Croatians and Bosniaks.
According to Chetnik documents on their military formations during the
war years from 1941 to 1945, there were 14 corps, 76 brigades and 2
regiments on the territory of Bosnia while on Croatian territory, there
were 4 corps, 1 division, 32 brigades and 2 regiments. Apart from the
military formations there existed numerous authorities on the
territories under Chetnik control. The exact number of Chetniks has not
yet been established, but according to some indexes, some 100,000
individuals in the army and in the field passed through their ranks in
Bosnia and Croatia of whom 98% were Serbian. At this point, it is
necessary to stress the assistance the Chetnik leadership directed to
these regions from Serbia and Montenegro. All Chetnik units committed
crimes, special units, however, existed to whom this was the main task.
These ranged from Chetnik three-man groups to troops and brigades.
Program documents, undoubtedly, suggest that Chetnik genocidal crimes
were directed against the Croatian and Bosniak people as a whole on the
territory of their imaginary "Greater Serbia." Nevertheless, it must be
stated that Chetnik terror and crimes were also directed towards the
participants of the anti-fascist movement or NOP, as it was called, and
against their families, regardless of nationality, although the
Chetniks endeavored occasionally to spare the lives of individual
captured partisans and members of NOP who happened to be Serbian.
Crimes were also directed against the Serbians who displayed various
forms of loyalty towards the NDH leadership. There were two main
methods of Chetnik genocidal crimes against Croatians and Bosniaks. The
first was the direct, physical destruction of people of these two
nationalities (and others as well). The second method was indirect,
using various threats, physical and psychological violence, the rape of
women and young girls, and robbery. Physical destruction took the form
of massacres, hangings, decapitation, burning, throwing victims into
pits and killing them with various objects. Victims were in most cases
tortured before being killed. Indirect methods included Chetnik threats
of massacring Croatians and Bosniaks in pamphlets, songs, or speeches;
various forms of physical violence ranging from stoning, beating,
mutilation, torture by deprivation of food and water, especially in the
main Chetnik prison camp in Kosovo, by Knin, and in prisons of corps
headquarters; rape of Bosniak and Croatian women and girls so as to
nationally and religiously degrade them. There were two especially
significant forms of indirect Chetnik crimes. These were robbery and
forced conversion of Catholics and Muslims into the Serbian Orthodox
faith. Robbery and plundering were carried out on an enormous scale and
were often the main motives for setting Chetniks into action. They were
practiced mostly during military operations but were also carried out
whenever possible. This caused hunger and death in territories through
which the Chetniks passed and the massive exodus of the population
which was in fact the main Chetnik goal. The forced conversion to the
Serbian Orthodox faith aimed at further degrading the victims and
destroying that deepest of ties to the Croatian or Bosniak nationality.
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CHETNIK CRIMES OF GENOCIDE AGAINST CROATIANS AND BOSNIAKS FROM 1941 TO 1945
The actualization of genocidal crimes against Croatians and Bosniaks,
according to the proposed plan by the Chetnik leaders and commanders,
began immediately after the plans were drawn up and lasted to the end
of the war. Their scope depended primarily on their military
capabilities, their deployment and the strength of their opponents.
From the documents we notice three periods which, according to the
number of victims of genocide, were the most massive. The first was the
commencement of the rebellion, from the end of July 1941 to February
1942. The second was from August to October 1942 and the third was from
January to March 1943. These were the strongest military periods for
the Chetnik movement on the territory of Bosnia and Croatia. It was
also the time when the movement had the most intensive support of
Chetniks from Serbia and Montenegro and the support of the Italian and
to a lesser degree the German occupiers. We will mention several
distinguishing examples from these periods.
A/ The first period (the end of July 1941 - February 1942
This period consists of two parts: the first, from the eruption of the
rebellion until the autumn of 1941, when Chetniks and guerrillas
participated in the rebellion together; and the second, which began at
the same time as the division of the Chetnik and national liberation
movement, namely, the division of the military into Chetniks and
Partisans and crimes of Chetnik units may be observed.
In the first part, after the eruption of the revolt, in actions carried
out jointly by the Chetniks and communists, the first massive crimes
against Croatians and Bosniaks in Bosnia and Croatia were carried out.
In this way, on July 27, 1941 and several days afterwards, in Bosansko
Grahovo and the surrounding area, 62 Croatians, among whom were five
women, nine children, and parish rector Ante Gospodnetic were killed by
the rebels while their houses and five villages were burned after being
looted. On July 2, in Krenjus and its surrounds, as well as in Vrtoci,
several hundred Croatians, the majority being older individuals, women
and children and the parish rector Kresimir Baric were massacred. They
looted and burned houses and the Roman Catholic Church. Then followed
the arrival of 2,500 Croatians from Boricevac and the surrounding area
into Bihac. Boricevac itself was looted and completely burned and never
rebuilt after the war. As a result, 19 Roman Catholic parishes on the
right side of the Una River and ten on the left shore ceased to exist
since there was no congregation left. Subsequently, on September 5, 1941, in Kulen Vakuf, 3,000 Bosniaks and a hundred Croatians were slaughtered and the area was looted and burnt.
Also, 44 Bosniaks and 12 Croatians were killed in Varcar Vakuf and the
surrounding areas. In Glamoc and its surrounds, 45 Bosniaks and two
Croatians were killed. In Sanski Most the rebels killed Bosniaks and
Croatian peasants and even their families: women and children.
It was the same in other areas. In this way, the "liberated
territories" were soon "liberated" from Croatians and Bosniaks who were
forced to leave so as not be slaughtered and killed. Their houses and
villages were looted and burned. Soon, a river of 50,000 refugees began
to flow into Bihac, Jajce, Knin, Sanski Most, Prijedor, Livno, and
other towns. The share the Chetniks and their supporters took in
executing these crimes was dominant. In eastern Herzegovina, massacres
of civilians were carried by out rebels with assistance from Montenegro
and this in Avtovac on June 28, 1941 when some 47 Bosniaks were
massacred; in Berkovici (Dabar) on August 28, 300 Bosniaks were
massacred, predominantly women and children, who were thrown into pits,
and the majority into the "Cavkarica" pit, according to Partisan
documents. According to the documents of NDH authorities, the number is
considerably greater. Some Croatians were killed, while from the entire
eastern Herzegovina region, colonies of refugees, flowed into
neighbouring towns, predominantly Capljina, Mostar, and Dubrovnik.
After being looted, many houses and villages were burned. It was in
eastern Bosnia, where Chetnik units, established and assisted by
Chetniks in Serbia, and active since the beginning of the revolt, that
the first massacres of Bosniaks were recorded and this in Medjedja and
Koraj in October and November 1941. Several hundred people were
slaughtered.
Since the NDH powers were unable to suppress the rebellion and hinder
its spreading, Italian and German occupying forces intervened. The
Italians occupied Zones I and II and the Germans brought in new forces.
The Italians enabled the organization and supplies for the Chetnik
units and their close links from Serbia to Slovenia, who in turn
organized, planned, and commenced the genocidal crimes against
Croatians and Bosniaks. In this way, Chetniks around Knin and at the
three border point started the terror against the Croatian population.
On October 7 and 8, 1941, they slaughtered seven Croatians in Donji
Ervenik. On July 3, 1941, they ordered "that all Catholics in the
village of Stikova be converted to the Orthodox faith." In an attack 16
days later, 11 local Croatians and 1 gendarme were killed. On December
11, in the village of Velika Plana, by Lovinac, six Croatians were
massacred and before that, on September 29, 1941, 44 Croatians of
Brotinja by D. Lapac were captured and then slaughtered. The majority
were women and children. This resulted in a new wave of Croatian
refugees.
From December 1941 until February 1942, many massive killings of
Bosniaks by Chetniks were carried out in eastern Bosnia where the
Italians had handed over authority to them. In this way, 5,000
Bosniaks and a hundred Croatians were killed in Foca and Gorazde
according to a statement by a Chetnik commander. At the same time, in
the Srebrenica region, 1,000 people were killed, in Vlasenica 2 to
3,000, in Rogatica under 1,000, and in Visegrad over a 1,000
individuals were slaughtered, burned and killed. The situation was
similar in the Nevesinje district where Bosniaks were also slaughtered
and five villages were burnt to the ground. Most of the victims were
tortured, women and young girls were raped, while many were slaughtered
and thrown into the Drina River from Foca to Ustipraca. After the
looting, many of the houses and villages were completely destroyed
along with mosques, three in Foca alone.
Thousands of refugees fled towards Sarajevo, Tuzla, and other towns so
that the number of refugees increased to 100,000 in the entire NDH
territory mostly due to Chetnik terrors and crimes. The arrival of
Partisans in this territory temporarily hindered further Chetnik
crimes, but made possible the transition of many Chetniks into
Partisans, without punishment for the crimes committed.
B/ The second period (August - October 1941
In this period, the majority of Chetnik crimes were again carried out
in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Chetniks captured Foca on August
19,1942 in which 8,000 Bosniaks, both native inhabitants and some
refugees, lived. Approximately 5,000 Bosniaks succeeded in escaping
towards Sarajevo. Some smaller groups of Bosniaks went into hiding
while the others were captured and killed. One of the survivors stated:"...
As soon as the Chetniks occupied Foca, they captured and killed all the
Bosniak men, as well as a great number of women and children,
whilst almost all the girls and young women were raped. Altogether, men
in hiding survived. Shops and houses were completely looted and some of
them were burned". The same source also claimes that there had been
about 2,000 innocent victims.On September 5, 1942, P. Bacovic reported
to D. Mihailovic that in Foca: "...1,200 Ustasa in uniforms and
approximately 1,000 Bosniaks who had compromised themselves have been
killed, while we had four dead and five wounded.... We had an enormous
booty. Our goal was to secure links with Serbia and this we achieved."
From August 29 until September 4, 1942, during the Italian military
operation "Albia" against the Partisans on Biokovo, a group of 1,000
Chetniks from eastern Herzegovia carried out massive looting, arson,
and crimes against the local Croatian civilian population. It was on
the territory of the Cetina parish alone (in Rascani, Zupa biokovska,
Kozica, and Dragljani) that 160 Croatians were slaughtered, shot, or
burned. Among them were three priests, Ivan Condic, Josip Braenovic who
was decapitated, and Ladislav Ivankovic. On September 5, 1942, Bacovic
reported on the "punitive expedition" to D. Mihailovic, stating that
the Chetniks had killed over "1,000 Ustasa", and that they themselves
had "not one dead or wounded". He
went on to state that en route from Ljubuski to Vrgorac, they had
"skinned three Catholic priests alive", killed "all the men 15 years of
age and older" and that "17 villages had been completely destroyed",
after which, with songs and the Serbian flag, they "came to the shores
of our Adriatic" to the south of Makarska "and positioned our flag".
From May until September 1942, on the basis of an agreement with the
Italians, the Chetniks took over power in eastern Herzegovina with the
exception of the towns. Subsequently, they killed several hundred
Croatians and Bosniaks and a massive exodus of the Croatian and Bosniak
population from the left shores of the Neretva River followed. During
this period, the exodus was primarily from the Stolac region, in which
"from approximately 28,000 Croatians and Bosniaks" (with the exception
of a few families in Stolac itself) not a single Croatian or Bosniak
remained according to Chetnik documents. During the Italian military
operation against Partisans on the territory of Prozor in October 1942,
the Chetniks first killed around 200 Croatians and Bosniaks in the
Mostar area and then in the Prozor area, they killed, slaughtered, and
threw into pits or water 1,716 people (340 Bosniaks and the rest
Croatian civilians). Upon their return, they killed twenty Croatians,
in the Konjic district, looted their homes and villages, and burned
many of them as well. Bacovic sent the following telegram to D.
Mihailovic on October 23, 1942: stating that : In the Prozor
operations, over 2,000 Croats and Bosniaks slaughtered,and (Chetnik)
soldiers returned.
Meanwhile, in northern and central Dalmatia, Chetniks carried out more
genocidal crimes against Croatians under directions from the Italians
and under their auspices. In this way, at the beginning of October
1942, on the territory of the Cetina parish, Chetniks, under the
command of commander M. Rokvic, killed 200 Croatians, looted and burned
down houses in the villages of Gata, Naglice, Cisla, Ostrvica,
Zvecanji, Dugopolje, Kolenice, Srijani and Dolac Gornji. The Italians
reported: "Most of the people killed were the elderly, women and
children, who had no ties with the Partisans". Every one was
slaughtered when captured. During the killings, the Chetniks would
sing: " Petar from London writes us, Oh Croatians, you are no more". On
October 21, 1942, in Bitelic, near Sinj, Djujic`s Chetniks, under
directions from the Italians, killed 29 Croats and 6 more in Otisic and
then burned down 220 Croatian houses. According to the report of the
Italian General Berardi from Knin, "every Catholic was tortured and slaughtered and afterwards most of the corpses were mutilated in the most horrible manner",
but he did not react. Djujic sent a telegram to D. Mihailovic
reporting: " My people killed all those we came upon" On October 3,
1942, Chetniks from Medak killed five Croatians from Ribnik." All
documents illustrate that the victims in these massacres were civilians
which may be seen by the number of Chetnik casualties. The consequence
was a new wave of Croatian refugees from these territories towards the
sea and deeper into NDH territories.
C/ The third period (January - March 1943)
Chetnik genocidal crimes against Bosniaks and Croatians in this period
correspond with German and Italian operations against NOP forces which
began on January 20, 1943, throughout the NDH territory (headquarters
in Bihac). Chetniks from the NDH territory, Montenegro and Serbia
participated in these operations. They used this for the pre-planned
cleansing of the Bosniak and Croatian population, and so, from January
3 until February 7, 1943, Bosniaks were cleansed from the districts of
Cajnice, Foca and Pljevlja. The Chetnik Commander P. Djurisic gave the
following report to his commander-in-chief on February 13, 1943: "All
Muslim villages in the three mentioned districts are completely burned,
so that not one of their homes has remained unscathed... The complete
destruction of the Muslim population, regardless of sex and age, has
been carried out during this operation.
Victims. The number of our victims amounts to 22 killed, of whom two were accidents and 32 wounded.
Of the Muslims, approximately 1,200 combatants and up to 8,000 other victims: women, the elderly and children".The
cleansing continued in Sandzak. According to the German General Luters,
the aim of these Chetnik actions was "the extermination of the Muslim
part of the population, especially in Sandzak and in Herzegovina",
because that "Muslim wedge between Serbia and Montenegro must finally
disappear". At the same time, he writes to his headquarters: "It is
necessary to stress the characteristics of Chetnik warfare, their
attacks on the unarmed weaker enemy... Their
slaughter of helpless women and children (Bosniaks) is in itself, for
the Chetniks, an understandable, honorable and brave act, and the
executors consider themselves heroes". This was confirmed by a Chetnik leader, D. Jevdjevic from the time when they "who were heroes in looting and slaughtering women were cowards when the first gun was fired",
fleeing 30 km ahead of the Croatian Partisans of Dalmatia. It was
precisely the defeat of the Chetniks by the Partisans at the Neretva
and the Drina Rivers where the contribution of the Croatian Partisans
was most significant which influenced the breakdown of their plans to
destroy the Bosniaks and Croatians. According to German verified data
from the territory within their zone, in
six east Bosnian and four central Bosnian districts, 8,400 Croatians
and 24,400 Bosniaks were killed, making a total of 32,800 people.The
small remaining groups of Bosniaks were forced by the Chetniks to
convert from the Islamic to the Serbian Orthodox faith as was the case
in the villages of Potpece and Vikoc near Foca.
At the same time, at the end of January 1943, the Chetniks in Dalmatia,
taking advantage of the absence of stronger Partisan forces, engaged in
an action, killing over 100 Croatians in the villages of Kijevo,
Kosori, Maovice, Vrlika, Ruzic, Otavice, Gradac and Kricke, and raping
women and girls, all under the slogan, "burn and slaughter everything
Catholic". At that time, they impaled 68 year-old Niko Blazevic and
roasted until he died. In Otavice, they threw 86 year-old Ilija
Mestrovic, the uncle of the famous Croatian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic,
into his burning house. Already on February 1, 1943, D. Mihailovic was
informed: " In Kijevo and Vrlica, Bacovic shot 55 Ustasa and in Maovice
and Otavice, Djujic killed 48 Ustasa. Afterwards, on February 3 and 4,
1943, Herzegovinian Chetniks, in the Imotski region, slaughtered and
killed 32 Croatians, looted and destroyed their property, set their
houses on fire and raped the young girls and women. In these actions,
the only victims were Croatian civilians, who were all considered
Ustasa by the Chetniks. Not one victim was Serbian and not one Serbian
village was destroyed. Again, the consequence was the departure of
3,000 Croatians from Sinj alone."
In regard to the news of the horrific massacres of Bosniaks committed
under the leadership of D. Mihailovic, on May 1, 1943, the British
government brought to his attention that the Chetnik leadership should
"moderate their attitude" towards Bosniaks. Meanwhile, C. de Gaulle,
shortly afterwards, awarded several Chetniks with the French war cross,
to their great satisfaction.
It is necessary to stress that Croatian and Bosniak anti-fascists,
activists, fighters, and members of NOP were killed without exception
if captured by Chetniks. In this way, from May 25 until June 15, 1942,
the Dinara Chetnik division alone in the battle against the Partisans,
counted "over 500 Partisan corpses, mostly Croatians". Some time later,
in 1942, near Rujiste, the Chetniks captured 23 Croatian Partisans and
shot them, for which deed they received 10,000 liras reward from the
Italians; yet another method which the Italians used to instigate them
to crime. Djujic`s report to D. Mihailovic of December 21, 1943, stated
that in the battle against the Partisans, 140 Partisans had been
captured, of whom seven were Serbian and the rest Croatian. The
Serbians were released and the Croatians were all slaughtered and
thrown into a pit. At that time, the commander of the Podrinje Chetnik
Brigade wrote in his report, among other things, the following: "I shot
5 Partisans because they were "Turks"..."( that is, Bosniaks.). From
other documents, it may be seen that the majority were representatives
of various anti-fascist organizations of NOP, as well as the wounded
who were without adequate military protection, which the Chetniks used
to their advantage.
Outside of these periods and until the end of the war, the Chetniks
continued to loot, violate and kill Croatians and Bosniaks, whenever
they had the opportunity. We will only mention a few of these crimes.
On June 7, 1943, in the Brnjic municipality, 42 Bosniaks were
slaughtered, after which 1,060 refugees escaped to Zenica. In February
1944, Dalmatian Chetniks, in the villages of Dubrava, Danilo, Radonici
and Goris killed 30 Croats. On April 4, they killed 10 in the Promin
village of Necmen, 27 in the Skradin region on September 12, 1944, and
32 in December 1944 in Bribir, Grizani, and Tribalje near Crikvenica,
burning 70 houses and the Bribir Church. In May 1944, Chetniks in
Gorazde slaughtered about 50 Bosniaks, burning 2 mosques. In
northeastern Bosnia, on October 8, 1944, the Trebavska Chetniks killed
25 Croatians in the villages of Tramosnica, Turic, Liporasce and
Srednja Slatina. On January 3, 1945, Chetniks "captured, raped, and
shot 27 women and children" (Croatians) in the villages of Kladari and
Carevac, and ten days later massacred Croatians in the village Pecnik.
On December 21, 1944, the Chetniks of Rogatic killed 23 Bosniaks in the
village of Vinograd. Up
to June 1944, on the territory of the Rogatic district alone, 3,677
homes were burned and 4,635 were Bosniaks killed (among whom were a
small number of Croatians) by the Chetniks.
At the end of the war, the Chetniks were militarily defeated but many
of them were given the opportunity during the war, most often after
being imprisoned, to "voluntarily" join the Partisans.More than 80%
took advantage of this opportunity and, almost as a rule, gained legal
amnesty from their crimes. Only a few were convicted for their crimes.
In this way, they were given the opportunity to plan the revenge which
they had constantly stressed during the war, most frequently in the
song: " Oh Croatians, are we ever going to slaughter you, when Pero
returns from London", even though their King did not return. This was
especially revealed during the final operations after the surrender at
Bleiburg, with murders and firing squads during "Death Marches", in
camps and in places of execution for members of the Croatian defense
forces and NDH authorities, as well as civilians throughout the
territory of the former Yugoslavia, namely Croatians and Bosniaks.
The number of Chetnik victims of
genocide among Croatians and Bosniaks during the war from 1941 to 1945
has not yet been confirmed. The newest demographic research suggests
that the possible exact number of casualties on NDH territory is
200,000 Croats and 100,000 Bosniaks. These numbers refer to those
killed. According to V. Zerjavic, of
this number, 32,000 Croatians (20,000 in Croatia and 12,000 in Bosnia)
and 33,000 Bosniaks were victims of the Chetniks.31 To many, Zerjavic`s
number appears too small, especially due to larger estimates in some
sources and literature. It might be that this is possible, until future
research, which is now being conducted, establishes concrete numerical
data for these Chetnik genocidal crimes.
CONCLUSION
Chetnik crimes of genocide against Croatians and Bosniaks in Croatia
and Bosnia during the Second World War (1941-1945) were not incidental,
rather they were planned and an integral component of the military and
political goals of the Chetnik movement. Their origins are in the
comprehension of Greater Serbian nationalists and expansionists, of
which the Chetnik movement was the most extreme, most organized and
most operative part during the war. According to this comprehension,
national and historical territories outside of Serbia are also
"Serbian" because Serbians live there, regardless of their number.
Areas in which there are no Serbians may also be considered "Serbian"
if geostrategic or other reasons exist. In this respect, they
considered Bosnia and the greater part of today`s Croatia to be
"Serbian" and endeavored to "cleanse" them, through crimes of genocide,
of Croatians and Bosniaks who formed the majority of the population and
then annex them to the ethnically pure "Greater Serbia". It is
precisely this constant effort of the Chetnik movement to establish
this "Greater Serbia," on the mentioned territories, which is the real
reason for the Chetnik terror and genocidal crimes and not religious
and national differences, nor terror or counter-terror, as some would
have us believe. The Chetniks displayed their genocidal comprehension
at all opportunities in numerous documents, maps, speeches, statements
and actions before, during and unfortunately even after the Second
World War. During this war, they attempted to achieve their genocidal
plans with the support of and under the protection of first the Italian
occupiers and then the German occupiers, as well as the support of the
exiled government of Yugoslavia, Great Britain, and the United States.
This is why, along with the Chetniks, the above mentioned participants
carry their share of the responsibility for these crimes. In
this respect, as we have partially shown, Bosniaks and Croatians in
many territories in Croatia and Bosnia, from Serbia, Montenegro to
Slovenia were "cleansed". Wherever Chetnik units arrived, horrific
crimes were committed, depending only on
the relation of forces and the circumstances in a given territory and
throughout NDH, Europe, and the world. This
resulted in 300 villages and towns, numerous Muslim mosques, Catholic
churches, and historical and cultural monuments burned and destroyed
and tens of thousands of Croatians and Bosniaks killed. Among them were
67 Muslim imams and hafizs (keepers of the Koran), 52 Catholic priests,
and several nuns of whom the most well-known are the so called Drina
martyrs, five nuns who were taken by the Chetniks just before Christmas
1941 from the Pale convent to Gorazde where they were tortured,
slaughtered, and thrown into the Drina River.
The Chetnik movement did not fulfill its genocidal intentions because
it did not possess enough military units.The main reason was the
self-organized defense and armed opposition of the Croatian and Bosniak
people, which protected them from even more tragic Chetnik crimes in
many places and brought about their military defeat. Following the war
in 1945, all Chetnik criminals were given the opportunity to answer for
their crimes of genocide against the Bosniak and Croatians and their
historical, sacred and cultural monuments in court. Many were even
given the chance to continue with these crimes under a different symbol
(the communist red star?) For this reason, it is not coincidental that
such genocidal crimes of greater Serbian nationalists and Chetniks
occurred in even more appalling forms, with respect to the number of
those killed, the number of refugees, and the destruction, against the
Croatians and Bosniaks in the greater Serbian aggression upon the
Republic of Croatia in 1991, and then, against the Republic of Bosnia
until today. Historical experience shows that the military defeat of
the Chetniks renders possible the return of the majority of the
surviving Croatian and Bosniak population to their homes, but that is
not sufficient.
It is necessary to punish all the criminals, because until this is
done, there will be no peace on these territories, and the threat of
danger, new conflicts and new Chetnik crimes will always exist, which
is something all international factors must be conscious of, if they
truly want peace and if they do not wish to bear their share of the
responsibility for Chetnik genocidal crimes.
Source:
"SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE 1918-1995"
An International Symposium
Publisher: Croatian Heritage Foundation & Croatian Information Centre
For the Publisher: Ante Beljo
Expert Counsellor: Dr. sc. Dragutin Pavlicevic
Editor: Aleksander Ravlic
Graphic Design: Gorana Benic - Hudin
Printed by: TARGA
Copies Printed: 2000
ISBN 953-6525-05-4
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