Criminal university

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adjustment of the kk Landwehr after 1900, far left: Bosnian hunter
A criminal university patrol started in 1909
Strafuni on the Bosnian-Serbian border, postcard from 1913
Klicanje (Trebinje) plant on the border with Montenegro

The Austrian-Hungarian border protection unit established in Bosnia and Herzegovina ( annexed in 1908 ) in 1882 was called the Strafuni ( Štrajf-korpus, štrajfkori ili strafuni, štrafuni = patrol corps) . The name "Strafuni" comes from the Serbo-Croatian colloquial language. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had been occupied by Austria-Hungary since 1878, they were used very successfully against the widespread gang violence there.

function

Their main task was to hunt Bosnian and Serbian insurgents ( partisans ) in the impassable karst terrain , to secure the 110 kilometer long "military cordon" created in January 1883, the border strip to Montenegro , and to smuggle arms, unauthorized border crossings and the constant raids against the rural population and the subsequent flight of the looters ( Heiducken ) - who also had many supporters from the local population - to the neighboring countries. The border with Montenegro was secured with 37 field guards (forts and similar fortifications).

organization

The troops were recruited from volunteers from the Austro-Hungarian army , gendarmerie and police. 1229 posts of the Bosnian gendarmerie corps responsible for internal security were filled with former members of the Ottoman army and gendarmerie ("Zaptiés") who were particularly familiar with the local conditions. Many convicted game shooters were also used as border hunters in criminal units. The corps, consisting of 600 men and 12 officers, was organized on the Montenegrin border into 6 wing of the patrol corps. These were in turn subdivided into patrol units. Bosnian subaltern officers acted as platoon commanders . The first commander was the Austro-Hungarian General Emanuel Cvjetićanin , who came from Serbia . He formed his command staff from officers - mostly enthusiastic hunters - from the army stationed in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

equipment

Because of their uniforms, the soldiers were also called " Grei Havks " (gray hawks) by the local population . Since 1925 the Austrian gendarmerie also wore a uniform made of iron or pike gray (karst gray) cloth. Initially, it was still the remainder of the stocks from the Strafuni depots. This shade lasted until it was dissolved in 2005. During their missions, however, they often wore the local costume as camouflage, such as B. Fez and waist band, but without belt and Bosnian harem pants with a cord. They hid their equipment on the pack animals or under their clothing. As kuk state organs they could only be recognized by a black and yellow band that was pulled over the left arm during official acts or battles. They were armed u. a. with 6-shot revolvers. When they were later equipped with the 8-shot Rast & Gasser M1898 revolver, this resulted in a significant advantage over their opponents, who always counted up to 6 when exchanges of fire and then dared to take cover. The border fighters still had 2 rounds in the drum.

commitment

The Strafuni were not housed in barracks, but were in "factories" (mostly fortified log huts with the simplest equipment). During the patrol duty, camping often had to be done outdoors. Depots were set up to supply food and ammunition. The connection to the higher command posts was maintained by couriers. The soldiers spoke the local dialects and, during their reconnaissance missions, usually presented themselves as merchants, cattle dealers or pilgrims. To fight the looters and smugglers more effectively, u. a. tactics and combat techniques also adopted from the enemy. The Strafuni marched separately in small groups and came together for their actions at previously agreed meeting points. As a result, they soon achieved excellent results in fighting gangs, which is why between 1888 and 1891 some of the patrol units were disbanded. In this period alone, 46 robbers are said to have been shot and 12 captured alive.

literature

  • Pallasch: magazine for military history. Organ of the Austrian Society for Heereskunde. Issue 61, 1998, in it: Egon Sauer-Nordendorf: The Strafuni, the forgotten border fighter patrol corps Austria-Hungary in Bosnia and Herzegovina, pp. 49–52.
  • Meyers Konversationslexikon, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig and Vienna, Volume 19: Annual Supplement 1891-1892, Fourth Edition, pp. 118–119.
  • Heiko Brendel: "Better than Kacake than to die of hunger": Occupation and resistance in the Austro-Hungarian military general government in Montenegro (1916-1918). Campus Verlag, Frankfurt / New York 2019, p. 77.
  • James Connolly, Emmanuel Debruyne, Élise Julien and Matthias Meirlaen (eds.):. Experiences d'occupation, transferts, héritages (1914-1949), Histoire et civilizations, Villeneuve d'Ascq 2018, therein: Heiko Brendel: Des "Streifkorps" au "Werwolf"? Arthur Ehrhardt et le transfert diachronique des savoirs austro-hongrois en matière de contre-insurrection, pp. 129-140.
  • Ernst Josef Uiberacker: At the criminal universities. Memories of an old soldier and hunter. The Bergland Book, 1958.
  • Roland Girtler: Poachers. Rebels in the mountains. Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2003, p. 106.