Chetnik war crimes in World War II
In 1928, Puniša Račić stood in the Yugoslav Parliament and shot two deputies of the Croatian Peasant Party. He mortally wounded its president, Stjepan Radić, before being arrested. This act marked a turning point for Serbian nationalist groups that would later form the core of the Chetnik movement. The Radical Party promoted the idea of a Greater Serbia, which became a central tenet for many future Chetnik leaders.
Following King Alexander's imposition of royal dictatorship in 1929, most of these organizations were dissolved. Members moved to the original Chetnik Association for Freedom and Honor of the Fatherland, which continued to function under new leadership. By 1932, Kosta Pečanac became the president of this association. He transformed it into an aggressively partisan Serb political organization and allowed entry to non-veterans.
By 1938, membership had increased to around 500,000 people. Subcommittees were established throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly in eastern Bosnia, in territories they envisioned as part of a future expanded Serbia. These subcommittees acted as semi-military organizations and were involved in violent activities throughout the 1930s, including murders.
Croat and Slovene opposition led to the prohibition of the Chetnik Association in Banovinas with ethnic Croat and Slovene majorities. Some sections continued to operate on a reduced scale. The Chetnik subcommittees opposed the formation of the autonomous Banovina of Croatia negotiated in August 1939. They called for the creation of the Banovina of Serbia, including parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Dalmatian coast.
A movement called Serbs united formed under the Serbian Cultural Club group. It claimed that the position of Serbs in the Banovina of Croatia was endangered. Pro-Chetnik organizations were active in the movement's work. Despite its activities, including a petition for the secession of Serb-majority districts, the movement did not receive widespread support among Serbs in Croatia.
On the 30th of June 1941, Stevan Moljević wrote the Homogeneous Serbia memorandum. He was an attorney and member of the Serbian Cultural Club. The document called for the creation of a Greater Serbia and its ethnic cleansing of the non-Serb population. Two months later, he became a member of the Chetnik National Committee.
In a letter to Chetnik ideologue Dragiša Vasić in December 1941, Moljević repeated his ideas. He proposed cleansing the land of all non-Serb elements. In another letter to Vasić in February 1942, he noted that the miscreants should be punished on the spot. For the remainder, the road should be opened for Croats to go to Croatia and for Muslims to Turkey or Albania.
A written memorandum with Draža Mihailović's signature dated the 20th of December 1941 outlined Chetnik goals. It was sent to newly appointed commanders in Montenegro, Đorđije Lašić, and Pavle Đurišić. While the document's origin is disputed, it shows how the basic goal of the Chetniks was to be achieved.
A March 1942 document from the Chetnik Dinara Division closely followed the December 1941 memorandum. The document called for the creation of a Greater Serbia with an exclusively Serb population. It demanded the cleansing of Dalmatia, Lika, Bosnia, and Herzegovina of Croats and Muslims.
In May 1942, Dragiša Vasić argued that the question of a homogeneous Serbia would have to include all areas where Serbs live today. He concluded that if they were wise, this question of cleansing or resettling would not be difficult. Mihailović's diary from spring 1942 read: The Muslim population has through its behavior arrived at the situation where our people no longer wish to have them in our midst.
In late 1941, Chetniks established a form of civil and military government in large parts of eastern Bosnia. They called it the Provisional Administration of East Bosnia. This administration enacted discriminatory measures against Muslims and Croats of Foča. Businesses and shops were looted, and all houses had to be unlocked at all times.
Everyone aged 16, 60 had to report to the Provisional Administration. Citizens needed special permission to leave their homes. Those with permission were obliged to wear a badge similar to the Jewish Yellow badge. More than 2,000 civilians were massacred in Foča between December 1941 and January 1942.
Chetniks captured Goražde after a long siege ended on the 1st of December. Dangić gave a speech in Goražde that referenced a Greater Serbia. He concluded that they could not be together anymore. His forces then went on a looting, raping, and killing spree. Many victims were murdered on the town's bridge and dumped into the Drina River.
Paul Mojzes cites that 1,370 Muslims and Croats were killed in Goražde during these massacres from the 30th of December 1941 until the 26th of January 1942. Others cite that as many as 2,050 Muslims and Croats were killed during this period. Vladimir Dedijer and Antun Miletić cite 5,000 Muslim men, women, and children from Goražde and Foča who were killed between late-1941 and early 1942.
In the village of Zaklopača east of Vlasenica, Chetniks barricaded a group of Muslims in a local Muslim religious school. They set it alight, killing eighty-one people. In Sopotnik near Drinjača, armed Chetniks with guns, knives, hammers, sticks, and axes massacred 86 Muslim civilians.
Between January and February 1943, Chetnik units carried out genocidal assaults on the Muslim population in Sandžak and southeastern Bosnia. Commander Pavle Đurišić submitted reports to Mihailović detailing the destruction. He stated that 33 Muslim villages were burned and 1,000 women and children killed.
In February, Đurišić reported that around 8,000 women, children, and elderly were killed. The casualties would have been higher if a part of the local population had not fled to Sarajevo prior to the offensive. Đurišić emphasized that during the operation the total destruction of the Muslim inhabitants was carried out regardless of sex and age.
From 4, the 7th of February, 576 Muslim civilians including 443 minors were massacred in Bukovica near Pljevlja. In March, 500 Muslim civilians were killed in the Goražde area. In the districts of Pljevlja, Čajniče, and Foča, all Muslim villages were totally burned so that not a single home remained in one piece.
An estimated 10,000 people were killed in the anti-Muslim operations commanded by Đurišić between January and February 1943. Bosniak historian Šemso Tucaković estimates that up to 20,000 Muslims may have been killed in the Podrinje area during these 1943 massacres. German verified data from their zone showed 8,400 Croats and 24,400 Muslims were killed by Chetnik forces in six east Bosnian and four central Bosnian districts.
Todorović established contacts with Italians and negotiated the transfer of control of parts of eastern Bosnia to the Chetniks in November 1941. The Italians compelled NDH authorities to withdraw from areas like Foča, Goražde, and Višegrad. They then turned it over to the Chetniks who established their own civil and military government.
With Italian approval, Chetniks attacked Ustashe-held towns. In August 1942, they participated in Operation Alfa against Partisans in Prozor. Chetnik forces massacred Croats and Muslims and burned numerous villages before being ordered by Italians to leave on insistence of the NDH government.
Baćović reported to Mihailović that over 2,000 Šokci and Muslims were killed in operations at Prozor. He noted that soldiers returned delighted. The Partisan newspaper Borba reported that about 2,000 souls were killed by Chetniks in Croat and Muslim villages of Prozor, Konjic, and Vakuf.
In October 1943, two Chetnik Corps conducted an offensive in eastern Bosnia against NDH forces. Two thousand Muslim civilians were massacred after the capture of Višegrad. Around a week later, Chetniks captured Rogatica where most population had fled. The few remaining civilians were killed and a large part of the town was burned.
During November 1941, captured Yugoslav Partisans were handed over to Nazis. General Dragoljub Mihailović's staff surrendered 350 captured Partisans who were then executed. In western Serbia, Chetniks captured over one hundred Partisans during their conflict with communist-led forces.
Around the 13th of November 1941, Chetniks took a group of 365 prisoners to Mionica and then to Slovac. They were brought by Nazi and Serbian collaborationist forces to Valjevo. Of that group, 263 were executed by Nazis in Krušik on the 27th of November 1941. Others were later executed, deported to concentration camps, or released.
The Bralenovice facility near Danilovgrad housed an orphanage before World War II. It became a concentration camp for Partisans and civilians. As Jakov N. Jovović wrote in letter number 8 to Bajo Stanišić on the 30th of May 1942, 489 people ranging from one year to old men were imprisoned in the camp.
Chetniks attacked the hospital of the Pomoravlje Partisan Detachment near Ursule on the 31st of October 1941. About ten nurses and fighters were captured. All prisoners were taken to Rekovac, redirected to Riljac and Ljubostinje and either killed, sent to concentration camps or escaped.
At the beginning of August 1945, the first public post-war trial was held in Belgrade of Vojislav Lukačević and others. Public prosecutor Miloš Minić accused Lukačević of a massacre in Foča as commander of Chetnik units in Bosnia. He was also charged with participation in extermination of Muslim population and collaboration with Nazis.
Lukačević was found guilty and sentenced to death. He was executed in Belgrade in late August 1945. Chetnik leader Dragoljub Mihailović was captured on the 13th of March 1946 by agents of Yugoslav Security Agency. He was indicted on 47 counts.
Mihailović was convicted of eight charges including war crimes and high treason. He was sentenced to death on the 15th of July. He was executed with nine other Chetnik commanders in Lisičji Potok in early hours of the 18th of July 1946.
Very few Chetnik leaders were put on trial after the war. The participation of Chetniks after the war in Communist Party and new government enabled survival of movement and its institutionalization. Historian Edina Bećirević writes that crimes committed by Chetniks against Muslim and Croat population have been relatively cloaked in silence.
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Common questions
What was the Homogeneous Serbia memorandum written by Stevan Moljević on the 30th of June 1941?
The Homogeneous Serbia memorandum called for the creation of a Greater Serbia and its ethnic cleansing of the non-Serb population. Stevan Moljević wrote this document as an attorney and member of the Serbian Cultural Club before becoming a member of the Chetnik National Committee two months later.
How many civilians were killed in Foča between December 1941 and January 1942 during Chetnik operations?
More than 2,000 civilians were massacred in Foča between December 1941 and January 1942. This period included discriminatory measures enacted by the Provisional Administration of East Bosnia where businesses were looted and citizens required special permission to leave their homes.
Who ordered the execution of Dragoljub Mihailović and when did it take place?
Dragoljub Mihailović was executed with nine other Chetnik commanders in Lisičji Potok in early hours of the 18th of July 1946. He had been convicted of eight charges including war crimes and high treason after being captured on the 13th of March 1946 by agents of Yugoslav Security Agency.
What specific atrocities occurred in Goražde from the 30th of December 1941 until the 26th of January 1942?
Paul Mojzes cites that 1,370 Muslims and Croats were killed in Goražde during these massacres while others estimate as many as 2,050 victims died. Vladimir Dedijer and Antun Miletić cite 5,000 Muslim men, women, and children from Goražde and Foča who were killed between late-1941 and early 1942.
How many Muslim villages were burned and how many people killed during Pavle Đurišić's operations in Sandžak and southeastern Bosnia in February 1943?
Commander Pavle Đurišić reported that 33 Muslim villages were burned and 1,000 women and children killed between January and February 1943. He later stated that around 8,000 women, children, and elderly were killed during this operation regardless of sex and age.