Momčilo Đujić

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Momčilo Đujić (between 1941 and 1943)
Signature of Momčilo Đujić

Momčilo Đujić ( Serbian - Cyrillic Момчило Ђујић ; * February 27, 1907 in Kovačić near Knin ; † September 11, 1999 in San Diego ) was a Serbian Orthodox priest of Serbian Chetnik associations during World War II . As such, he was a collaborator with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, as well as a war criminal . Yugoslavia convicted him in absentia as a war criminal in 1947 and applied for extradition in 1988 , which the United States did not comply with. Even Croatia put him and his " Dinaric Chetnik Division " numerous war crimes to the load.

Life

Đujić led the notorious "Dinaric Chetnik Division" which, together with the Italian army, carried out military operations against Tito partisans , especially in northern Dalmatia and western Bosnia . Đujić's Chetnik Association was the main ally of the Italian fascist occupying power in the Dalmatian hinterland . By eliminating some unwilling competitors, Đujić managed to become one of the most colorful representatives and commander-in-chief of all Serbian nationalist Chetnik movements in the region around Knin by late spring 1942 . Through agreements with the Italian and later German occupying powers and regional Croatian authorities, he succeeded in establishing a Serbian zone of influence within the Independent State of Croatia . His abundance of power allowed him to obey the orders of his nominal leader Draža Mihailović and the Italians at his own discretion and to pursue his own goals in the fight against the communist partisans.

After Italy's surrender in September 1943 , Đujić was instructed by Mihailović to work “more than before” with the German occupying power, since Mihailović “could not participate because of popular opinion”. After the German Wehrmacht moved into the former Italian occupation zone of Yugoslavia, Đujić and his DTD made themselves indispensable by protecting the traffic routes (especially the Knin – Drniš rail link ). An already ordered arrest of Đujić and the disarming of his troops by the 114th Jäger Division was therefore not carried out.

Momčilo Đujić speaks at an OSČ event in Canada (1991)

Towards the end of the war he was able to leave for Italy . He emigrated to the United States and founded the Serbian nationalist organization of the Serbian Chetniks Ravna Gora in Chicago .

Đujić appointed Vojislav Šešelj to Chetnik voivod on St. Vitus's Day in 1989 , which Đujić later publicly regretted and apologized for after Šešelj had made a deal with Slobodan Milošević .

In the media

During the Croatian and Bosnian wars , the nationalist Serbian singer Baja Mali Knindža (Mirko Pajčin) dedicated the successful song Vrati se Vojvodo (Come back, voivode) to him in 1992 , in which he addressed Đujić and asked him to return to the Krajina . On the cover of her album Pajčins Pobijediće istina (It is the truth win) in 1994 posing the singer with šajkača , a flintlock pistol and a T-shirt bearing the insignia of Đujićs Dinaric Chetnik Division.

literature

  • Zdravko Dizdar: ĐUJIĆ, Momčilo . In: Darko Stuparić (ed.): Tko je tko u NDH: Hrvatska 1941. – 1945 [Who is who in the NDH: Croatia 1941–1945] . Minerva, Zagreb 1997, p. 109 (Croatian).
  • Jovo Popović, Marko Lolić, Branko Latas: Pop izdaje: četnički vojvoda Momčilo Đujić [Priest Problems: The Chetnik Vojvode Momčilo Đujić] . Stvarnost, Zagreb 1988, ISBN 978-86-7075-039-5 ( znaci.net [PDF]).
  • Philip J. Cohen: Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History (=  Eastern European studies . No. 2 ). 4th edition. Texas A&M University Press, 1999, The Chetniks - Father Momčilo Đujić, p. 45-47 .
  • David Binder: Momcilo Djujic, Serbian Priest and Warrior, Dies at 92 . In: The New York Times . September 13, 1999 ( nytimes.com ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Serb Leader Momcilo Djujic Dies; Led Chetniks During World War II . In: Washington Times . September 14, 1999.
  2. ↑ Cohen 1999, p. 47
  3. ↑ Mihael Sobolevski: Pljačka i teror Dinarske četničke divizije na području općine Krivi put 28. i 29. prosinca 1944 [Looting and terror of the Dinaric Chetnik division in the area of ​​Krivi Put on November 28 and 29, 1944] . In: Senjski zbornik: prilosi za geografiju, etnologiju, gospodarstvo, povijest i culture . tape 31 , no. 1 , December 2004, p. 95-113 ( srce.hr ).
  4. ↑ Karlo Ruzicic-Kessler: Italians in the Balkans: Occupation Policy in Yugoslavia 1941–1943 . Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2017, ISBN 978-3-11-054434-3 , p. 130 .
  5. ^ Klaus Schmider : Partisan War in Yugoslavia 1941–1944 . ES Mittler & Sohn GmbH, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-8132-0794-3 , p. 306 .
  6. ^ Klaus Schmider: Partisan War in Yugoslavia 1941–1944 . ES Mittler & Sohn GmbH, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-8132-0794-3 , p. 308 .
personal data
SURNAME Đujić, Momčilo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Yugoslav Serbian Orthodox priest, leader of Serbian Chetniks in World War II and war criminal
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Kovačić (Knin)
DATE OF DEATH September 11, 1999
Place of death San Diego