Second Brigade - First Ličko Dinaric Četnik Division 1941 - 1945

THE SECOND BRIGADE

First Licko Dinaric Četnik Division 1941 – 1945

Published by Dušan Lukić 1991

Copyright by John Jovan Lukich 2012

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Map of Places Mentioned in this Book

Photo of General Dragoljub-Draža Mihailović 1893 - 1946

Photo of author Dušan M. Lukić (January 3, 1917 – November 27, 2006)

Translator’s Notes

Dedication

Gratitude for Assistance and Cooperation

Foreward

Part 1 - Geography of the Municipality of Zrmanja and History

Part 2 - Yugoslavia’s Collapse - Establishment of NDH - Dissolution of the Army 1941

Part 3 - Uprising - Setting the Stage and 1941 - 1942

Part 4 - War during 1942 - 1944

Part 5 - On the road to Slovenia and the Camps 1944-1947

Part 6 - List of Deceased People and Soldiers

Part 7 - Tito against Serbia - Anatomy of an Historical Fraud

Detailed Map of Yugoslavia (for Orientation Purposes)

Map of Places Mentioned in this Book

GENERAL DRAGOLJUB-DRAŽA MIHAILOVIĆ

1893 - 1946

Draža Mihailović was a legendary figure. His martyr's death has created around his name an aura of saintliness for his warriors. Over time his memory will be increasingly brighter, and the glorious name of Draža will be celebrated.

Bishop NIKOLAI

Dušan M. Lukić

Author

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES

This book was written by my late father, Dušan Lukich, in the late 1980s and early 1990s and published during 1991. It was a massive project for my father but one he felt compelled to complete for, as he states in the book, the truth about events in the Tromedja area of the former Yugoslavia during WWII needed to be told. As important, he wanted to ensure that the names of those who suffered, fought and died during that time, in that part of the country, would be remembered for their sacrifice. Therefore, the book is not a story about him as much as it is a historical reference document. The victor, it is said, gets to write history, and many have done exactly that with their selective and varnished versions…all the more reason for my father to have written a book containing truths from someone who witnessed firsthand, the actual events that took place during that point in time.

The book was originally written in Serbian Cyrillic using a Cyrillic typewriter for each of its 335 pages. Since its original publishing, two things have occurred that allowed me to pursue the project of translating it into English for my father’s grandchildren: technology advanced enough to allow for the translation and conversion of the book into an electronic format, and I had the time to devote to it. It was time well spent!

In translating it, I used the method of scanning each page to create an MSWord document; I then uploaded each page to Google Translate, downloaded the translated page, and then fixed up the translated page to ensure it stayed true to the original text. This process allowed me to do about five pages every 2-3 hrs. After each section of the book was translated, I put all the pages of a section together, reviewing it page by page. Once all the sections were translated, I combined everything, including pictures, into one large document. I did take the liberty of putting in place a map on the last page of the book to provide context around the journey made to Slovenia at the end of the war.

After several complete re-reads of the book, I readied it for conversion to an eBook. I wish to thank my dear wife Olga and my brother Michael for their proof-reading of the entire document.

This is not a word-for-word translation as there were a number of words Google Translate did not recognize -- but what Google Translate could not figure out, I did so by carefully reading the original sentences to understand the meaning, allowing me to paraphrase what wasn’t fully captured. I recognize this would not be considered an official translation by the literary world. And no doubt those whose mother tongue is Serbian will see nuances in the original text that were not captured in the translation. For errors and/or omissions my apologies; I am confident, however, that the English version is a fair reflection of, and honest representation of the original book.

I thank my late father Dušan (January 3, 1917 – November 27, 2006) for writing this book and I hope that those of you who read it will further appreciate the sacrifices of the Serbian people who lived through the horrors of the Ustasha and Communists. As well, I hope that you will have even greater respect for the Četnik fighters of Draža Mihailović - who bravely fought against all odds not for territorial gain or power, but rather so that the Serbian people – their nation, religion and customs - would not be wiped off the map in the Tromedja area of Lika and elsewhere.

John Jovan Lukich – Translator

Oakville, Ontario Canada

November 2012

D E D I C A T I O N

We should treasure the individual whose name will live forever – it justifies why one was born in the first place

Njegoš

I dedicate this book to the glory and everlasting memory of my brother MIHAILO-MIĆI LUKIĆ, and all the fallen soldiers, who fought for the glory of the Second Četnik Brigade, the First LIKA Corps, Dinaric Četnik Division.

Let these few words be an eternal and never forgotten gratitude to the memories of all our wonderful heroes who gave their young lives, in defense of their religion and nation during various battles against Nazi fascism and communism, and with their lives, they saved their people from inevitable annihilation. We pray to God with all our might that he gives them peace and rests their souls and scattered bones, in various battlefields over our beloved region.

Dušan Lukić

Author

GRATITUDE for ASSISTANCE and COOPERATION

The smallest individual assistance for writing this book was valuable to me as the writer. When I approached a number of friends about this idea, they urged me to proceed on this project even though I was not sure of my ability to do this work. There were several people who realized the necessity for the realization of this book early on. This book is collaboration with fellow soldiers. As soon as they received my first notice about the data I required, they submitted their annotations from war articles as they remembered and recorded - which were of considerable benefit. With their help and cooperation, they have become part of this book, and they deserve to have their names mentioned in this thank you - namely: Dušan Sučević who lives in Milwaukee in America; Ljubiša Novaković, who lives in London England; Dane Sučević, who lives in East Chicago in the U.S.; and the now-deceased Iljtan-Ilija Stojsavljević, who eternally resides in England.

My warmest thanks belong to our brothers and fighters from around the world, who on my request accepted to sell this book raising money to allow the expenses to be settled. Also many thanks to the brothers and sisters, who provided financial contributions for the publishing as follows:

Ljubisa Novaković, London £100

Dušan Novaković, London, England £100

Stevo Novaković, London, England £100

George Stojsavljevic, England, son of Iljtana £100

Dejan Stojsavljević Anka, London, England £100

Ljuba Sajčić, London, the daughter of Jove Maćkanova £100

Milan Stojsavljević England £50

Peter Radan Mississauga, Ontario, Canada $ 100

Dušan Radjenovic, Mississauga, Canada $ 100

My sons and daughters in law:

John and Olga Lukich, Oakville, Canada $ 1,000

Michael and Rada Lukich, Oakville, Canada $ 1,000

All the above are eagerly expecting the release of this book, and for this, their kindness and their financial contributions, I, once again, offer many thanks to everyone.

Dušan Lukić

FOREWORD

The desire and idea to write this book, was born from our fellow survivors over the years. Various proposals were made as to how to execute this complicated project which exceeds our capacity for such a literary work. After all the research in finding an approach, I finally had to accept to do as much and in so far as my memory and limited ability allow. In addition to my best intentions and abilities, it could easily happen that some important things may be left out resulting in challenges or objections from individual persons. So kindly in advance, I ask those critics, not to be too vocal in assessing my work, which describes almost forgotten events from our past.

It's been half a century since the beginning of World War II, which dramatically changed the fate of the Serbian people. Today, when I write this book, we also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the struggle and suffering of the Serbian people from 1941 -1991. This 50 year anniversary is a trigger for this work which will describe the just struggle, sacrifice and suffering of our Second Brigade in the last war. The hope is that this will be an authentic document, contributing to the history of Ravna Gora, and the Serbian people in general.

The need and desire for writing of this book comes from a deep sense of duty and moral obligation to the soldiers of our brigade who gave their best years in defense of our most vulnerable, our property, and our homes. We also express our brotherly gratitude to all surviving comrades of our brigade for their participation in military operations, and that the Almighty has given good health so they can live happily today, even if scattered around the world far from their birth country.

Our brigade was an integral part of the people's Ravna Gora Movement in the western regions of our fatherland, under the command of the famous and tireless leader Draža Mihailović. To him, and all the fallen and surviving soldiers under his command, this book gives well-deserved respect and gratitude to our united ideal to fight in defense of the life of our people throughout the Serbian lands, as well as defending against Nazi-fascism, the Croatian Ustasha, and Tito's Partisans.

The task of this book is to enlighten and properly display the people's resistance and struggle for our future generations, and all those who are exploring the data to write a true history of our struggle and the suffering imposed during World War II from 1941 -1945. We are aware that we will not be able to fully describe all of our suffering, and the injustices that were done to us, through the uninterrupted chain of our unending four-year struggle. The situation in Yugoslavia today is well known to us, but this is not a free world that knows the real truth -- or for some reason does not want to know - that today's communist Yugoslavia was created from the bones and pits of murdered Serbs and the ashes of their homes. There is a lot to write about regarding the poisoning of the Serbian people by the Partisans, not just for the free world regarding the communist lies and brutality, but also for the confused and deceived Serbian people. The party continuously filled the heads of our people with some kind of freedom, well being, and equality which the Partisans carried out for their betterment. That's why one role of this book among other things, is breaking down all the communist lies and deception regarding them fighting for our people, and that the real truth be shown regarding the events in our area…as they actually played out.

Near the close of the war, the Soviet Army broke into our country and occupied the capital city of Belgrade; it was easy for the Partisans, with the Soviet Army’s help, to establish a solid power base. At that time they were both judge and jury. In their vengeance and enthusiasm, and with the Stalinist methods of torture they liquidated the best Serbs who belonged to the Četniks or were their supporters. They used their abilities to defame us and promote false propaganda, directed at our children and our people, against us of the Ravna Gora Movement. In their evil doing, the Partisans did not hesitate to label Četniks as some kind of slaughterers – Četniks did not slaughter anyone. The Partisans wanted this slander to cover up their work, which was agreed to while they were working in conjunction with the Ustasha. The truth about this conspiracy and their cooperation with the Ustasha has been slowly revealing itself. Through this book we will provide more documentation on their cooperation.

The National Resistance Movement under General Mihailović was not waged in the name of some principle or dogma. This resistance was but a continuation of wars and battles that the Serbian people experienced in the past. This innate instinct was towards self-defense, constantly repeated, when its survival and freedom were threatened. The Ravna Gora Movement in the last war was nothing but an organic continuation of our historical heritage, conservation and protection of our religion, folk customs and freedom. For the Serbian people, the Četnik name symbolized their defense and protection. So it was not easy to take this role and the Četnik name in the Civil War, when all enemies united to destroy it. In contrast Partisans were like Bolshevik fighters, who crazily fought for the interests of Stalin and the Comintern, and against the interests of the people, just to help break the back of the Serbian people.

At a time when Nazi-fascism was brewing in mid-1943, even then one could see the popular uprising on Ravna Gora would not be able to come through and establish a democratic and legal state. Our Western allies had in Draža Mihailović a faithful and loyal ally in the fight against the common enemy, and the only ideological democratic view in the Balkans. Unfortunately, much to the shame of democracy and humanity, unacceptable errors were made, and at the pressure and demands of Stalin they sacrificed the much praised Draža Četniks, and with them the entire Serbian people, with the help of Stalin's agent Josip Broz-Tito. This shift in the politics of our allies, and fight for our nation, has left an incurable and tragic consequence for future life and development of the entire Serbian nation.

Our people by nature, by our upbringing and traditions, have always been a democratic and freedom-loving people. From the beginning, we never took anything from others, but we defended and died when we were in danger. Serbian Communists never valued these principles even though they evolved from them. They implemented the will of Stalin and the Comintern, be it false propaganda or physical liquidation of the best Serbian patriot. They wanted to gain fame, power and high positions obtained from the blood and suffering of their own people. So that's one of the main goals of this book - to properly display their wicked work - and refresh the crimes they have done to our people. Here, primarily the Communists come to mind from our region, whose dishonest acts must not be forgotten for future generations.

Describing the events of the last war throughout the pages of this book will be largely confined to the villages of the Municipality of Zrmanja and the people from these villages. The people from these villages comprised the famous Second Brigade. This heroic brigade, which bears the name of this book, was composed of good and brave soldiers, led by all the elders and leaders in a ceaseless struggle and who bore all the scars from the Serbian enemies, in defense of their people for the entire war. As time marches further into the future, the name of the brigade will become better known and greater. It will be the pride and joy of our generation, which will be remembered for the patriotic struggle of our ancestors. From time to time, we will mention some units from the Dinaric Četnik Division (DCD), which were under the command of the famous Duke (Vojvoda) Momcilo Djujić. The Second Brigade with its neighboring fraternal units made up the First Lika Corps. So we had our First Brigade of the west, formed mostly from the Gracač Municipality, which operated on their turf, and was our neighboring unit. This brigade had a similar fate as ours. She bravely fought throughout the war and provided valuable defense to the people from their region. Since the early days of the struggle, from the north-east municipalities, the Third Brigade, also composed of brave soldiers and elders operated until the end of the war in their own sector. In the municipality of Donji Lapac in mid 1943 is where our Fourth Brigade was formed. These four heroic Lika brigades comprised the First Lika Corps of the Dinaric Četnik Division. From the end of 1943, the Corps was commanded by a brave Serb from Montenegro, Major Milivoje Vuksanovic.

From the Tiskovca Valley and Torbičkog Vaganca, was a battalion under the name Maric Detachment. This was the first unit on the Tromedja border which was attacked by Partisans in April 1942. This detachment, made up of brave soldiers, was closely related to the veterans of the Second Brigade. At one time we were united as an integral part under the name King Petar II. There will be more discussion about this squad throughout the pages of this book.

We hope and expect that our younger generation will seek this book out and learn the real truth about the struggles and sufferings of their predecessors as led by their famous brigade in our fields, hills and valleys for a full four years. They will learn about the true picture of struggle and suffering in defense and for the salvation of life. In this book they will find and know the names of their grandfathers and learn about their scattered graves from the various fronts of Lika, Bosnia and Dalmatia. And this is for those who survived this disaster, and under pressure from the Communists, had to leave their beloved homeland and scattered to various countries throughout the world.

D. Lukić

PART ONE

GEOGRAPHY of the MUNICIPALITY of ZRMANJA

Let’s try to better understand the development and existence of the people from the Municipality of Zrmanja, who have inhabited this area for close to three centuries. The people lived and worked in a rugged area of the land. The Zrmanjska Municipality was contained in Lika and bordered Dalmatia to the south and Bosnia to the east. These three provinces met in a triangle, known as Tromedja, and is well known from its role in history, and from the last war. Its area includes land around the Velebit Mountains where it ends in the west. To the east rises the ski mountain range, which is cut off from the Dinaric system and Bosnia by a deep cut in the valley, called the Tiškovačkog Region. The eastern-most top of the hill is Poštak, elevation 1425m, which clearly looks like a crown. On the north side of the municipality are interconnected hills and mountains from the Maglaj and then across to the peaks Ljubova and Maslovare to the top of the Labusovih hills. The southern part of the municipality has an opening towards the sea and Dalmatia. The entire living space of these people was difficult due to the mountainous terrain. The Zrmanjska nature valley is looked upon as a separate region. Zrmanjska Municipality is known as the passive part because most of its arable land was barren and rugged. There is some good land along the Zrmanja River, and a few fields as in Malo and Velika Popina.

This landscape’s climate is continental and, by rights, if you distanced yourself from the sea, it should have become more of a Mediterranean climate. The main factor in this change in climate is the Velebit Mountain, which stretches along the coast of the Adriatic Sea, starting from the Senj to Zrmanja. Due to its great height, the mountain poses a barrier, which breaks down and stops the Mediterranean climate for the most part of our regional areas. Malo and Velika Popina are particularly exposed to a north wind, which is called the Tempest. The Tempest is like a great river, which winds through the gorge to the Adriatic Sea, carrying everything in its path. The Popina Tempest was known as the worst in Lika. In winter it inflicted a lot of deaths to passengers who travelled from Otrić to Srb, and vice versa. Winters were long and typically have a lot of precipitation in the form of snow and blizzards. Spring mostly was rainy and cold. Summer was mostly sunny and dry with little rain. Autumn was a good season, and could be moderate and beautiful, but also had rain and later, snow. That is how the most southern part of Lika, which was part of the Zrmanja Municipality, was like.

SETTLING of the SERBS in THESE PARTS

In this chapter, we felt it necessary to give historical data on the settling of our people in this area in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. I have no intention to go into great detail here, just enough to show the connection with the present suffering of the people of this region. This is more for those Serbs who are not familiar with the reasons our ancestors left their homes and first-settled in this hilly and arid area. So, we will start from the past and mention important moments, which had significant roots and provided the continuity for our suffering.

The information which we have at our disposal says the Turks, in their march west until 1463, founded the entire present Bosnia. Thus this entire area was under Turkish rule. It is believed that before the conquest of Bosnia this area was not inhabited by Serbs – west of the river Vrbaca all the way to Velebit. When the Turks cleansed these parts of Bosnia from the original population, then Serbs began settling in this devastated country. It was the Serbs who voluntarily settled just to get bigger and better properties. Some, of course, fled from the Turks while others called themselves Turks. These were the first Serbian settlements in the ravaged western region.

After 1463, the Turks moved into Croatia even into the Krajina area. This cleansing was committed mostly by Bosnian Muslims, who were more dangerous than the Turks themselves, because the majority of the regular Turkish army moved across the river Sava in the direction of Vienna. These Muslim invasions were carried out year after year, mostly for robbery and intimidation of residents to flee their homes. They destroyed and burned property, and the people who were not killed or fled were taken away into slavery and sold. That is why at this time-- almost to the ends of Croatia to Zagreb-- the areas were like a desert because there were no living souls. In 1469 the Turks broke through the river Una in Lika, in counties that were then held by bloody Russian Princes, burning and looting this area. They took the majority of the residents from this region far away and into slavery. By about 1527, they were able to conquer the whole of Lika.

When the Serbs from various settlements came to the western borders in Turkey, they did not stay. These new Serb immigrants were happy to have received the then Austrian Government because they had fast and good fighters and warriors who could defend them from the threat of the continued Muslim invasion of Croatia. They were ordinary farmers who could get the biggest benefits from the Austrian government, to be free from feudalism, not to serve as serfs of the country of various nobles, and who could live tax-free and freely cultivate their own land. With these rights, they obtained a weapon with which to defend the border.

References indicate the first Serbs settled in Lika around Gomirja and Jasenka in 1536. It was likely these settlers who built Monastery Gomirje in 1602. After 1596, Serbs settled the barren farms of Counts Zrinjskih and Frankopana, who were not merciful to them. Through time, settlement occurred in all areas in central and northern Lika. These movements and settlings in these barren areas of the former territory of Croatia lasted more than a century.

When news came of the Turkish defeat in 1683, this helped create a national fervour among the Serbs in all parts of Turkey. The first to rise up and revolt and fight were the Serbs of Turkish Dalmatia in 1684, with the heroes of Serbian folk songs, Ilija Smiljanic and Stojan Jankovic. The Government of the Republic of Venice wanted to get rid of the Turkish administration in the Jadranska region and northern Dalmatia. Therefore, the Venetian authorities supported the Serb uprising - which fought bloody battles with the Muslims and eventually freed Turkish Dalmatia along with parts of Krajina. For the settlement of the entire Zrmanjska Municipality, we will take certain examples from a book by Adam Pribicevic, The Settling of the Serbs in Croatia.

When Austrian General Herberštajn attacked for the second time the Muslims from the Krajina area in 1689, he was supported by the Serbs and they successfully expelled all the Turks from Lika and Krbavoj over the border into Bosnia. After the expulsion of the Turks, the southernmost part of Lika was mostly unsettled. Serbs from Dalmatia took this opportunity and settled Zrmanja, Gračac, and Medak in 1716. In the same year they settled Knin, Velika Popina, and Mazic.

The author of this text could not obtain other sources to explain in more detail the settlement of our territory. Our regions for the most part were freed before the Turshog war in 1684. When freed of Turkish (Ottoman) rule, Serbs in this part of Dalmatia became our closest neighbours. The arrival of new refugees from Bosnia helped settle our region. These movements and settlements occurred at the end of the sixteenth and early seventeenth century, which means roughly three hundred years ago, or fifteen generations.

In our villages there are a lot of the identical surnames. I will mention here only a few. In Velika Popina on average, most surnames are Stojsavljevic. This is the same last name found in Vrljeckoj Krajina. It is believed that once they were close relatives with the same roots but were displaced during various periods of settlements. There are more identical surnames in our villages. So we have Suscevic from the southern part of Velika Popina - the same last name can be found in Zrmanja. Again, Novaković is found in Velika Popina and in Rastičevo. Also in Velika Popina are several hamlets with the surname Lukić, also found in Zrmanja. Since I’m a Lukić, at one time I conducted some research regarding origins of my last name from my native village Velika Popina. In this study, I found out that my forefather named Marko, escaped from the Turkish territory of Bosnia to Austria. As a refugee he could not manage very well, but he joined the Austrian army and fought on the side of Austria against the Venetians sometime between 1794 and1795. When the war ended, he was not needed and simply let go. After this, it is presumed he probably wandered until he learned about settlement areas and then settled in our village of Velika Popina. His son Đurađ had five sons. One of them settled in Cerovce whose descendant was Spiro Lukić. I am a descendant of another brother who stayed in Velika Popina. So, Spiro and I were fourth generation relatives. There are probably more of these similar situations. I do not know of any institutions that traced the origins and history of roots and branches of our ancestors.

LIFE UNDER AUSTRIA for the SERBS FROM LIKA

It is easy to say, after much time and experience, that the Serbs made a big mistake when they abandoned their areas in Bosnia and moved to the country where the most fanatical Catholics in the world lived. Leaving their old homelands, they greatly weakened the position of the Serbs as a majority. They could have remained in their places, but they were not intellectually and politically aware. They could have established better communication with the Turks. From their arrival in the abandoned regions of Croatia, they were under the rule of Austrian emperors and Hungarian Kings, and Serbs of Dalmatia were under the authority of the Venetian Republic. The majority of these immigrants came from central areas of Bosnia, which already had a highly developed awareness of their past. Their faith and folk songs were deeply rooted in their souls at the time when they left their homes. They left a homeland, looking for a more peaceful life, because they thought that they would be happily received by their Christian brothers. However, they were soon convinced that they were bitterly wrong.

The Croatian Roman Catholic Church, always known for its Jesuit Fanaticism, did not receive them as Slavic Serbian brothers, but rather as some kind of schismatic brothers and Gypsies. The Serbs had to constantly defend their religion and customs to prevent from being converted. These Jesuit attacks were especially terrible for the Serbian clergy. With the help of the authorities, they were restricted or totally forbidden in their duties as Orthodox priests. They were placed in prisons where they were tortured. One example was when 14 monks were condemned to punishment in Gaul; they never returned. Our people were firmly opposed to this, especially in places where they were in a majority. In the weaker areas, they were forced to accept the Croatian union. The Croatian government was no better than their church. They did not like the Serbs because Serbs would not agree to subordination and become slaves. At that time, the regions were ruled by feudalism. The Croats wanted to employ their serfs to work for free - just for a basket of bread, for example, and to unconditionally obey their masters. And, for the smallest mistake, these serfs were strictly punished by flogging or other torture.

Military command personnel consisted of officers who were not of Serbian origin. Their duty was to fight wars along imperial frontiers. Because of this, these officers came to know the proper value of these Serbs as good soldiers. They needed them to not only defend the borders from a Turkish invasion, but to help form battalions which were sent to fight and die on the battlefield for the Imperial Empire. As a result, they protected the Serbs at the Viennese Court when they could.

For this work, the State Palace gave the Serbs privileges the Croats did not receive