New York Times Lauds Nazi War Criminal
Barry Marjanovich
Momcilo Djujic was born on Feb. 27, 1907 in the village of Kovacic in
Croatia, near the town of Knin. After graduating from high school in Knin
in 1924, he attended a school of higher education in Sibenik, and then
entered the Serbian Orthodox theological seminary in Sremski Karlovci in
1929. Ordained in 1933, he served as village priest in Strmica, a small
Serb community a few kilometers north of Knin, and began participating in
local Chetnik activities as early as 1935, when the first armed
associations or groups were founded in the surrounding area. [1]
[1] Popovic; "Nasa Rec, monthly political and literary review (Middlesex,
England), No. 402/XLII (Feb 1989), pp.9-11.
Politically, Djujic gravitated toward the extreme right of the
nationalistic Chetnik "Greater Serbia" movement which, in its present form,
is responsible for most of the horrors in former Yugoslavia today, and by
1941 he was an ardent supporter and follower of Dimitrije Ljotic, who led
the fascist, pro-Nazi, anti-semitic "Zbor" Party in Belgrade, which was
closely allied to the Chetnik movement. These fascist leanings greatly
facilitated Djujic's initial contacts with the Italian occupation forces in
April 1941 and his willingness to put his Chetniks at their disposal two
months later. [2]
[2] Ibid: pp. 12-17.
The first armed Chetnik groups in the Knin area gradually evolved into
companies, battalions and regiments, and at the end of February 1942 the
Dinarske Chetnik Division was formed by Djujic to exercise command and
control over this rapidly growing force. [3]
[3] Ibid: p.84.
The World War II Chetniks under the overall command of Draza Mihailovic
were Serbian nationalist fanatics devoted to the goals of a "Greater
Serbia", meaning the annexation of major portions of Bosnia-Herzegovina and
Croatia by force of arms. Hiding behind the facade of a pro-Allied
guerrilla army called the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland, they
collaborated openly with the Italian and German occupation forces in former
Yugoslavia against Tito's Partisans, but their principal enemies were the
Muslim and Croatian populations in the territories marked for annexation as
part of "Greater Serbia." These populations were massacred and driven from
their homes in a ruthless campaign that began with the very first day of
the war on April 6, 1941. In north and central Dalmatia, in Croatia,
Djujic's Chetniks "...massacred Croat civilians, plundered their homes and
set fire to whole villages." [4]
[4] Ostovic, P.D. The Truth About Yugoslavia. New York: Roy Publishers,
1952. pp. 219-225.
Djujic did not shrink from putting his genocidal instructions on paper. A
copy of secret order No. 22, issued by the headquarters of his Dinarske
Chetnik Division on March, 1942, was found near Knin on the body of one of
his senior officers that read in part: "...The aim of this division is to
establish complete Serb domination in these parts. At the most opportune
moment liquidate the Croats, Catholics and Muslims. Cleanup must include
Lika, northern Dalmatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina so that a completely
Orthodox state with Serbia and Montenegro may be realized." [5]
[5] Benkovic, Theodore. The Tragedy of a Nation. [Booklet, n.d.], p.40.
By March 1943, Djujic's notoriety as a war criminal and genocidist had
reached such proportions within the Western camp that Ilija Jukic, a senior
Croatian representative with the pro-Allied Yugoslav government in exile in
London, which exercised nominal control over Mihailovic's Chetnik forces in
the homeland, was forced to go to the Premier and recommend that
"Mihailovic disown Jevdjevic and Djujic, the two Chetnik commanders most
under attack for collaboration with the Italians and massacres of Croats
and Muslims." [6]
[6] Jukic, Ilija. The Fall of Yugoslavia. New York: Harcourt, Brace,
Jovanovich, 1974. p.163.
With the preceding background on the time, the place and the individual,
the specific crimes charged to Momcilo Djujic can be better understood in
their historical context. The atrocities noted below include only those
that have been attributed directly to Djujic or his troops under his
command. Those, and there are many, that are generally classified as
"probably" or "possibly" the work of Djujic have been omitted, as well as
other crimes where only a few victims were involved.
CHARGES AGAINST MOMCILO DJUJIC:
********************************************
April 15-30, 1941
---------------------
Chetniks, most or all of whom were under Momcilo Djujic, killed around 100
Croatians in the vicinity of Knin, Grahovo and Sinj and burned some 100
houses. An estimated 16 people were murdered on the roads outside of Knin.
Djujic's Chetniks were already cutting off the ears, hands, feet and
women's breasts of their victims, even at this early stage in the course of
events. One of these atrocities occured at Ervenik, 25 kilometers northwest
of Knin. Chetniks rounded up 30 Croatians, tied them, and took them to a
meadow where they were slaughtered and then thrown into a deep fissure in
the rocks that are common in that area. [7]
[7] Omrcanin, Ivo. Istina o Drazi Mihailovicu. Munich-New York:
"Logos"-Verlag, 1957. pp.100 and 107.
August 1, 1941
------------------
Chetniks from Dalmatia belonging to the Momcilo Djujic group murdered 30
Croatians in Bosanska Krupa on the Una River in Western Bosnia. [8]
[8] Ibid: p.114.
August 1, 1941
------------------
In the vicinity of Knin, 30 captured Croatian Domobran (regular Croatian
Army) troops and Gendarmes were butchered by the Chetniks. [9]
[9] Gabelica, Ivan. Letter to the editor, "START" magazine, Zagreb, Oct. 5,
1990. pp.4-5.
October 7, 1941
--------------------
All 7 members of the Croatian Ivankovic family were murdered by Djujic
Chetniks during the night in Ervenik, 25 km northwest of Knin. [10]
[10] German Embassy Zagreb report, in: U.S. National Archives, Microcopy
T-120 (Records of the German Foreign Office Recieved by the Department of
State), roll 3980, frame E049829.
December 20, 1941
------------------------
Djujic Chetniks raided the Croatian village of Stikovo, 18 km southeast of
Knin, and slaughtered several of the people who were captured. A Croatian
Gendarmerie corporal had his ears cut off and was then slain. They gouged
out the eyes of another victim with their knives and cut off breasts of
40-year old Mari Vujovic, whose 9-month old baby was then given the severed
breasts to suckle. Another victim, a young girl, had her fingers cut off
before she was finally killed. [11]
[11] Omrcanin, p.107.
Mid-April, 1942
-------------------
Chetniks from the "Kocic" Detachment under the command of Uros Drenovic,
which was a component of Djujic's Dinarske Division, burned down a number
of Muslim villages around Mrkonjic Grad in Central Bosnia and slaughtered
many people. In the Village of Grad about 70 people perished, 18 of them
being jammed into one house and then burned alive. In another nearby
village, Dabrac, 50 people were burned alive and 60 more in Podgora. In a
single day some 4,000 structures were burned down in the Janj district, of
which 1,300 to 1,400 were dwellings. [12]
[12] Ibid: p.145.
Beginning of May 1942
----------------------------
Bruno Ivanovic and his assistant named Radic, two Partisans who had been
sent to the Knin area to help organize the communist political apparatus in
the region, were caught by Chetniks under the command of Momcilo Djujic and
savagely tortured before they were killed. [13]
[13] Jelic-Butic, (Dr.) Fikreta. Cetnici u Hrvatskoj 1941-1945. Zagreb:
Globus, 1985. p.125.
End of June 1942
----------------------
Following a successful campaign against Partisan forces around Knin that
concluded on June 26, Chetnik MVAC (Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia - the
Italian name for Chetnik auxiliaries) units under Momcilo Djujic occupied
all of the villages in the Knin Valley and began committing atrocities. The
village of Mokro Polje, 21 km northwest of Knin, was burned down,
furniture, livestock and other personal property looted, and all families
thought loyal to the Partisan cause were massacred. Those slaughtered were
predominately Serb Orthodox rather than Croatian. [14]
[14] Popovic, p.145.
CHARGES AGAINST MOMCILO DJUJIC:
*******************************************
October 1, 1942
--------------------
Around 6:30 in the morning, Djujic Chetniks from Omis under their own and
Italian officers advanced on the villages of Gata, Naklice, Zvecanje and
Cisla. On the road approaching Gata they encountered 6 young women who were
raped and then killed. In Gata the houses were burned down and the women,
children, old people and men butchered. According to information gathered a
few days later, 85 people were massacred in Gata and nearly all of the
houses burned down, in Zvecanje around 20 were killed and many houses set
on fire, in Cisla 18 people were murdered and many houses burned, and in
Naklice one person was killed and one house set on fire. [15]
[15] Popovic, p. 170.
October 10-20, 1942
-------------------------
During Operation "Dinara", a large-scale Italian offensive to clear the
Partisans from Central Dalmatia and Bosnia, Chetnik auxiliaries under
Momcilo Djujic carried out a punative expedition in the villages of Gata,
Tugari and Ostrvice, all of which lie along the road between Bosansko
Grahovo and Livno. With the wholehearted support of Italian officers and
Serbian Orthodox priests, 190 men, women and children were slaughtered. A
total of 19 Croatian villages were burned down with all of the people being
roasted alive in their homes during the course of the operation. The school
was put to the torch in one village and all of the students and teachers
perished in it. [16]
[16] Ibid: p.169
October 21, 1942
----------------------
A force of 960 Chetniks under the command of Momcilo Djujic entered the
village of Bitelica and proceeded to torture and slaughter all Croatians
found there. At least 29 people were hacked to pieces, had their throats
slit, eyes gouged out, torn limb-from-limb, thrown alive into fires, etc.
The names of the 29 victims along with the nature of death for each are
given in the source. [17]
[17] Ibid: p. 179.
January 14, 1943
---------------------
In the early evening hours the 2nd and 3rd Licka Brigades of the Partisan
6th Licka Division attacked the town of Gracac in Northern Dalmatia, which
was defended by elements of the Italian "Sassari" Infantry Division and a
large force of Chetniks, including 2,000 Chetniks from Herzegovina under a
Captain Tomasevic, and 800 Chetniks from the regiments "Kralj Aleksandar"
under Brane Bogunovic and "Kralj Petar II" under mane Rokovic, both of
which belonged to Djujic's Dinarske Division. The fighting was bitter, but
the attack failed due to the numerical superiority of the Chetnik forces.
Of the 80 Partisans taken prisoner, all except two were horribly tortured
to death by the Chetniks. A Croatian Partisan, Stipe Spehar, received a
special treatment from the Chetniks. Already badly wounded from the
fighting, the Chetniks dragged him through the center of Gracac while
cutting him to shreds with their knives, being careful not to end his
suffering with a fatal slice, and all the while applauding in mock
celebration the "brotherhood and unity" of the Serbian and Croatian people.
Only two of the prisoners were released alive, supposedly because "they
were misguided youths." [18]
[18] Ibid: pp.222-225.
January 25, 1943
---------------------
During operations east of Knin, Chetniks belonging to the Dinarske Division
captured and shot 8 Partisans, all of whom probably belonged to the 3rd
Dalmatian Brigade. [19]
[19] Ibid: pp.229-230.
January 26, 1943
---------------------
On this Thursday 1,200 Chetniks from Momcilo Djujic's Dinarske Division
carried out an early morning attack on the Croatian villages of Maovice,
Batalici, Skorupi, Kijevo, Kozore, Vinalic, Garjak, Jezevic and Vrlika, all
of which lie to the southeast of Knin. The objective was to slaughter as
many Croatians Catholics as possible before the Italians found out and put
a stop to it. As soon as they arrived in Maovice, the massacre began: one
man had his eyes gouged out and his hands chopped off; childern were thrown
alive into burning houses; in one spot alone 13 people were butchered with
knives. At least 60 people were killed in Maovice in such ways, although
the number may have been as high as 80. The Chetniks then marched to Vrlika
where another 55 were massacred. They raised the Serbian flag on the local
Catholic church and began slaughtering those villagers they could lay their
hands on - again, many people were thrown alive into fires. Among the
victims were Jovo Postar, who was burned alive, Mica Erdelez and Serja
Konjevod. Then the Chetniks moved on to Kozore and Kijevo where the scenes
were repeated. Investigators later reported that perhaps another 150 people
perished in Kijevo. [20]
[20] Ibid: p.232; German Plenipotentiary General in Zagreb report No.
277/43 (secret), Feb. 8, 1943, in: National Archives Microcopy T-501
(Records of German Field Comands: Rear Areas, Occupied Territories, and
Others), roll 265, frames 771-772.
February 25, 1943
-----------------------
Chetniks belonging to Momcilo Djujic's Dinarske Division captured and shot
27 men and 17 women in the villages of Ocestovo on the premise that they
were Parisans or suspected Partisans. [21]
[21] Popovic, p.249.
March 20, 1943
-------------------
Chetniks under the orders of Momcilo Djujic rounded up 18 Partisans from
Gracac and the surrounding area. Among the prisoners were several very
senior members of the Communist Party District Committee in Gracac.
Following their capture, they were taken to the village of Krupa where they
were savagely tortured while under interrogation. They were then
"sentenced" to death and taken to Vucjak in the Velebit Mountains where
they were all shot. [22]
[22] Ibid: p.248, Cubrilo, Djordje. "Napad cetnika na KK KPH za Gracac u
Cerovcu i pozadinske ustanove u Bruvnu", in: Kotar Gracac u NOR-u
1941-1945. Karlovac, 1984. pp.841-845.
CHARGES AGAINST MOMCILO DJUJIC:
*******************************************
Early April 1943
--------------------
On the orders of Momcilo Djujic, over 1,000 innocent people, including
women and children, were taken to a recently opened Chetnik concentration
camp at Kosovo, 10 km south of Knin, to be incarcerated, tormented and
eventually killed. A hundred or so were taken to a nearby gully shortly
after their arrival and shot, but many of them were tortured first. Some of
these and many of those who followed were placed in a heavy wooden barrel
that had been reinforced with additional steel hoops. Long nails with
sharpened points had been driven through the sides of the barrel. The
victims were then rolled down a steep slope several hundred meters long for
the pleasure of their tormentors, screaming and shrieking in agony all the
way down. Nearly all of those afforded this "amusement park ride" bled to
death by the time they reached the bottom of the slope. In all, more than
1,000 people are known to have perished in this camp. [23]
[23] Popovic, pp.248-249.
Beginning of April 1943
-----------------------------
Beginning of April 1943
-----------------------------
On the orders of Momcilo Djujic, two groups of wounded Partisans from the
1st Licke Brigade were executed in the Velebit Mounains in north-central
Dalmatia around April 3. Before being shot, all were horribly tortured,
especially several Croatians who had served with the Partisan Battalion
"Matija Gubec." [24]
[24] Ibid: p.248.
May 1-2, 1943
------------------
Advancing to the southeast from Knin with 8,000 Chetniks, Momcilo Djujic's
Dinarske Division swept along the Livanjsko Plateau toward Livno, scouring
the villages for Partisans and their supporters. About a dozen men sick
with typhus were found in several villages, and these were all tortured and
then shot on Djujic's orders near the village of Bastasi. [25]
[25] Ibid: p.254.
September 12-13, 1943
-----------------------------
Turning on his benefactor, Djujic and his Chetniks helped the Germans round
up Italians in Dalmatia who had surrendered on Sep. 8, the date of Italy's
capitulation and witthdrawal from the war. Near Vrpolje, 50 km northeast of
Split, 13 Italians were caught trying to flee the net and all were murdered
on Djujic's orders. [26]
[26] Ibid: p.272.
December 7, 1943
-----------------------
Following the capture of Livno on the previous day, Chetniks under Momcilo
Djujic massacred 170 men who had been taken prisoner during the fighting or
rounded up in and around Livno. Most of these slaughtered were Partisans
from the 1st Air Base Command that had been set up shortly before in Livno,
and from the 19th Dalmatian Division which had tried to defend the town and
airfield. The Chetniks' own after-action report on this incident, filed on
Dec. 17, stated that they had killed 93 Partisans in battle and taken 182
prisoners, of which 179 were slaughtered after three Serbs were let go.
[27]
[27] Ibid: pp.309-310; Omrcanin, p.173.
December 14, 1943
------------------------
In a fierce engagement in the village of Strmica to the north of Knin,
Chetniks under Momcilo Djujic slaughtered 14 Croatian Partisans who had
been taken alive in the fighting. On the same day or the next, other
Partisans from this group were encountered and engaged near Ticevo, 51 km
northeast of Knin, while they were attempting to withdraw into the
mountains. Djujic's Chetniks captured and slaughtered 28 of them. [28]
[28] Popovic, pp.312-313.
July 21, 1944
------------------
>From a broadcast over Partisan radio, which was Allied-controlled and
located in Southern Italy:
"Our authorities have established that an American pilot baled out over
Kosovo Polje near Knin in Croatia. This territory is controlled by Chetnik
leader Djujic who collaborates with the Germans. By order of the Chetnik
commander of the Brigade "Simo Radic" American aviators are to be killed.
The murder of the American pilot was carried out by the known cut-throat
Milan Matijevic, who finished him off by crushing in his skull with a
stone. Milan Matijevic and Simo Radic have been placed on our official list
of war criminals." [29]
[29] Ibid: p.342.
End of July 1944
---------------------
British intelligence reported that Chetniks belonging to the Kistanje
Brigade, located 28 km southwest of Knin under Chetnik Lt. Simo Radic,
murdered two English parachutists. Although not specified in the report,
these were presumably aircrew from a disabled plane. [30]
[30] Ibid: p.342.
CONCLUSION
------------------
For those who have read through this sickening list of atrocities and
related crimes there can be only one conclusion: something is wrong in
Washington. Since 1979 the Justice Department's Office of Special
Investigations has spent more than $60-million taxpayer dollars pursuing,
denaturalizing, extraditing and deporting teenage concentration camp guards
and minor Nazi propagandists, few of whom were ever proven to have been
directly responsible for specific war crimes. Yet, Mr. Momcilo Djujic,
charged with direct and even personal participation in some of the most
disgusting atrocities of the Second World War, has been intentionally given
a free pass by our Justice Department. Why? What are the justifications
behind this inaction? At a time when the United Nations, at the instigation
of the U.S. government, prepares for international war crime trials for
those charged in the current war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the last
major war criminals of World War II comfortably resides in California a
free man.