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Đurđevdan uprising

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Đurđevdan uprising
Part of the Yugoslav Front of World War II
Map of the Independent State of Croatia with mark showing location of Sanski Most
Map of the Independent State of Croatia with mark showing location of Sanski Most
Location of Sanski Most in the Independent State of Croatia
Date6–8 May 1941
LocationKijevo and Tramošnja (villages near Sanski Most) Independent State of Croatia (today Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Result Uprising was suppressed within two days
Belligerents
Serb villagers from Kijevo and Donja Tramošnja
Casualties and losses
27 Serb civilians executed 2 Ustaše wounded
2 German soldiers wounded

The Đurđevdan uprising (Serbian language: Ђурђевдански устанак санских сељака or Побуна санских сељака)[1] was an uprising against the Independent State of Croatia in its Sana and Luka parish (today Bosnia and Herzegovina), Axis occupied Yugoslavia.[2] It broke out on 6 May 1941 during Đurđevdan slava celebrated by the Serb people in Kijevo and Tramošnja (villages near Sanski Most).[3]

Background[]

Main article: Independent State of Croatia
File:Viktor Gutić, Ustaša.jpg

Viktor Gutić

The Independent State of Croatia (NDH) was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany[4] and Italy established in part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. The NDH consisted of most of modern day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with some parts of modern-day Serbia. The regime targeted Serbs, Jews, Muslims and Roma people, as part of a large-scale genocide campaign.[5][6] In Sanski Most the NDH officials, including Viktor Gutić, publicly invited local Croats and Muslims to attack Serbs. On 23 April, Gutić ordered that all Serbs and Montenegrins then living in the Bosanska Krajina that had been born in Serbia or Montenegro were to leave the area within five days.[7] This anti-Serb propaganda, promoted on local radio and press releases, was accepted by some local Croats and Muslims.[8] Eugen Dido Kvaternik and Ante Pavelić misused Đurđevdan as an excuse to intimidate Serbs. In Serb tradition Đurđevdan is also known as the date of rebel (hayduk) gatherings. Although Kvaternik and Pavelić were not afraid of the eventual gatherings of Serb hayduks, they used it as symbolic date to attack notable Serbs in order to frighten the rest of them.[9]

Uprising[]

The uprising broke out after Ustaše from Kijevo, most of them Muslims, burst in the houses of Serbs in Kijevo and Donja Tramošnja to harass Serbs who were celebrating Đurđevdan. This provoked a massive revolt of the local Serbs who rose against the Ustaše and drove them out, wounding two of them. Rebels were armed with cold weapons with only a couple of pieces of firearms.[10]

A German military unit (1st Battalion of the 132nd Infantry Division stationed in Prijedor) arrived on 7 May 1941 to support the Ustaše forces. With support of artillery they managed to suppress the uprising by dawn of 8 May.[11] They captured 27 Serb civilians, shot them dead as retaliate action because rebels wounded two German soldiers. To intimidate local Serb population they hanged their bodies in the center of Sanski Most. According to Ahmed Biščević, local Jews and Serbs were forced to hang the bodies of the executed Serbs.[12]

Aftermath[]

At the end of May 1945[verification needed] Gutić held a speech and proclaimed “The roads will wish for the Serbs, but Serbs will be no more.” and announced additional measurements for complete extermination of local Serbs.[13] The Đurđevdan uprising and subsequent Uprising in Herzegovina in June 1941 preceded the general uprising organized by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia since the beginning of the occupation and led by it since July 1941.[14]

Following the collapse of the NDH in 1945 Gutić fled to Austria and Italy. In Venice he was recognized, arrested, and taken to a camp in Grottaglie. He was extradited to Yugoslavia in early 1946 and sentenced to death in Sarajevo.[15] He was executed in Banja Luka on 20 February 1947.[16]

References[]

  1. ↑ genocida, Muzej žrtava; zadruga, Srpska književna; veku, Odbor SANU za sakupljanje građe o genocidu protiv srpskog naroda i drugih naroda Jugoslavije u XX (1995). Genocid nad Srbima u II svetskom ratu. Muzej žrtava genocida i Srpska književna zadruga. p. 258. http://books.google.com/books?id=uT2BAAAAIAAJ. 
  2. ↑ Petranović, Branko (1992). Srbija u drugom svetskom ratu: 1939-1945. Vojnoizdavaćki i Novinski Centar. p. 178. http://books.google.com/books?id=BAlnAAAAMAAJ. 
  3. ↑ Vojno-istoriski glasnik. p. 155. http://books.google.com/books?id=MtdQAQAAIAAJ. "The conflict broke out on May 6th, when many Serbian families in Kijevo and Tramošnja villages celebrated their ..." 
  4. ↑ "Independent State of Croatia". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
    • "Croatia". Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
    • "Yugoslavia". Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 8 September 2009. Archived 31 October 2009.
  5. ↑ "Jasenovac". Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Jasenovac.html. Retrieved 3 June 2011. 
  6. ↑ Pavlowitch 2008, p. 34.
  7. ↑ Goldstein 2007, p. 22.
  8. ↑ Dodik, Petar (2011). Šušnjar 1941. : proceedings - papers, testemonies and documents. Opština Oštra Luka. p. 58. ISBN 978-99938-41-08-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=EHbgnQEACAAJ. "Unfortunately, that kind of propaganda on the radio and in the press fell on fertile ground and was accepted not only by the Croats, but also by a great number of Muslim people." 
  9. ↑ Goldstein, Ivo (2008). Hrvatska: 1918-2008. EPH. p. 264. http://books.google.com/books?id=yyMqAQAAIAAJ. 
  10. ↑ Dodik, Petar (2011). Šušnjar 1941. : proceedings - papers, testemonies and documents. Opština Oštra Luka. p. 58. ISBN 978-99938-41-08-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=EHbgnQEACAAJ. "The first indication of the forthcoming evil was seen as early as 6th May 1941 in Kijevo and Donja Tramošnja. The Ustashi from Kijevo, mainly Muslim, burst in the houses of the Serbian families, who were celebrating St. George’s, their patron saint’s day, to maltreat the host families and their guests and blow out their festive candles, the central ritual object used by Serbian people on patron saint’s day. This provoked a great revolt among the local Serbs, who rose massively against the Ustashi and drove them out. They were armed, mainly with cold weapons, and with a few pieces of firearms. During this action two Ustashi were wounded." 
  11. ↑ Petranović, Branko (1992). Srbija u drugom svetskom ratu: 1939-1945. Vojnoizdavaćki i Novinski Centar. p. 178. http://books.google.com/books?id=BAlnAAAAMAAJ. 
  12. ↑ Dodik, Petar (2011). Šušnjar 1941. : proceedings - papers, testemonies and documents. Opština Oštra Luka. p. 58. ISBN 978-99938-41-08-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=EHbgnQEACAAJ. 
  13. ↑ Dr Drago Njegovan: SRPSKI USTANAK U DRVARU I SRBU 27. JULA 1941.
  14. ↑ Vojno-istoriski glasnik. p. 154. http://books.google.com/books?id=MtdQAQAAIAAJ. 
  15. ↑ Dizdar et al. 1997, p. 145.
  16. ↑ "Strahovlada Viktora Gutića" (in Serbian). Viktor Gutić's Reign of Terror. Glas Srpske. 17 June 2013. http://www.glassrpske.com/plus/istorija/Strahovlada-Viktora-Gutica/lat/122578.html. Retrieved 23 March 2014. 

Sources[]

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