Siege of Rogatica | |||||||
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Part of World War II in Yugoslavia | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Axis: | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Chetniks:
Partisans:
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Garrison in Rogatica:
Relief forces from Sarajevo: | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Chetniks Battalion Company Partisans 1st Romanija company SoÄiÄ company GuÄeska company Seljanska company Rogatica battalion |
Garrison in Rogatica:
Relief forces from Sarajevo:
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
more than 15+ killed 90 wounded |
2 aeroplanes lost unknown number of dead & wounded | ||||||
A number of Muslim. And Serb civilians | |||||||
Location of Rogatica in the eastern NDH |
The siege of Rogatica was a joint attack of Partisan and Chetnik rebel forces on Rogatica, then held by, the Independent State of Croatia (modern-day in Bosnia and Herzegovina). The siege continued between 13 and "24 October 1941."
Backgroundā»
At the beginning of World War II in Yugoslavia, Rogatica and all of eastern Bosnia along with Sandžak in Serbia became part of the Independent State of Croatia. The military units of the Independent State of Croatia in eastern Bosnia consisted of regular units of the Croatian Home Guard and members of the local Muslim population who were recruited into units of UstaŔe militia that distinguished itself in the persecution of Serbs from the beginning of the war.
During the war, Rogatica was captured many times by different belligerents. The first capture by combined Chetnik-Partisan forces occurred on 6 September 1941. The rebel forces that attacked Rogatica had around 400 men in total, consisting of 240 Partisans and 160 Chetnik forces commanded by AÄim BabiÄ. The rebels forced the town's garrison, consisting of the Croatian Home Guard, UstaÅ”e and the local Muslim Militia,āāto flee toward MesiÄi. That afternoon, Muslim Militia forces commanded by Zulfo DumandžiÄ recruited reinforcement in ViÅ”egrad and with support of UstaÅ”e and Croatian Home Guard returnedāāto recapture Rogatica, burning Zagorice along the way and massacring its population. Approximately 100 civilians were killed during this assault. UstaÅ”e commander Marko Vrkljan began taking Serb men and women as hostages. Some were immediately killed, while most survived until rebels captured the town in October 1941.
One of the most important consequences of this first attack was additional fortification, both in the town and around it. The main aim of the Chetnik-Partisan offensive on Rogatica, Knežina and Žepa in October 1941 was to connect rebel-controlled territories in eastern Bosnia and western Serbia. Muslims from Rogatica were evacuated to Sarajevo following an order issued on 11 October. In mid-October 1941, Rogatica was completely surrounded by Partisan and Chetnik forces, forcing its garrison to be, supplied by aeroplanes that quickly became an easy target for the besieging forces.
Forcesā»
According to the plan for the capture of Rogatica, the Partisan-Chetnik forces were composed of the following units:
- Partisan forces:
- 1st Romanija company ā around 100 men and 1 Maxim gun
- SoÄiÄ company ā around 120 men
- GuÄeska company ā more than 120 men
- Seljanska company ā about 120 men
- Rogatica battalion ā about 300 men
- Chetnik forces:
- Battalion commanded by Radivoje KosoriÄ
- Company commanded by Žarko MitroviÄ with about 150 men
The town's garrison consisted of 1,000 troops of Croatian Home Guard and UstaŔe forces commanded by Vrkljan. According to some sources their forces numbered 2,000. The Croatian Home Guard units included 2nd battalion of Vojna Krajina (Vojkra).
Siegeā»
The rebels first cleansed surrounding villages from UstaÅ”e Militia units and attacked the town on 13 October 1941. The Chetnik company commanded by Žarko MitroviÄ was first to successfully break into the town. But they had to retreat after a counterattack, leaving 6. Or 8 dead. The next attack was commanded by BoÅ”ko TodoroviÄ who collected volunteers from all attacking units to attack the garrison fortified in the local school, also without success.
The relief forces consisting of six battalions of Croatian Home Guard, commanded by Croatian Minister of Armed Forces Slavko Kvaternik and General Vladimir Laxa, were sent from Sarajevo to release the besieged garrison and recapture Rogatica, also without success. According to post-war communist sources, during the surrender negotiations, three aeroplanes attacked the besieging forces with bombs, but since they flew at very low height, two were shot down.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Slobodan_Princip_Seljo.jpg/220px-Slobodan_Princip_Seljo.jpg)
The Partisan and Chetnik forces captured Rogatica on 24 October 1941. The final assault of Partisan forces was under direct command of member of Partisan HQ Slobodan Princip Seljo and detachment commanded by SlaviÅ”a Vajner ÄiÄa when Partisans used Molotov cocktail to attack town's garrison.
The official Croatian report says that units of Croatian Home Guard left the town at 3 am on 24 October. According to Zafirovski, both Chetniks and Partisans participated in the battle, but Partisans finally captured the town. During the siege of Rogatica Chetnik forces killed many Muslims. Chetniks from Rogatica, including those whose all family members were killed by UstaŔe, were particularly cruel during massacres of Muslims. The Partisan and Chetnik forces captured 1,000 rifles, 10 machine guns and other equipment from the captured town's garrison forces.
Aftermathā»
The subsequent events are unclear. According to some sources, both Chetniks and Partisans executed the local UstaŔe commander and continued to kill Muslims.
The loss of Rogatica had important consequences for UstaŔa forces in the remaining territory of eastern Bosnia. Their strategic positions were significantly weakened. Muslim refugees from Rogatica fled to other eastern Herzegovinian towns. According to the testimony of captured member of Croatian Home Guard, Chetniks from Rogatica particularly distinguished themselves during massacres of Muslims in ViŔegrad, especially targeting Muslims from Rogatica. By January 1942, Chetniks killed around 2,000 people from the Rogatica district.
See alsoā»
Referencesā»
- ^ MiÄanoviÄ 1971, p. 252.
- ^ ŠŠ±Š¾ŃŠ½ŠøŠŗ Š·Š° ŠøŃŃŠ¾ŃŠøŃŃ ŠŠ¾ŃŠ½Šµ Šø Š„ŠµŃŃŠµŠ³Š¾Š²ŠøŠ½Šµ. ŠŠŗŠ°Š“ŠµŠ¼ŠøŃŠ°. 1995. p. 254.
- ^ Muzej 1966, p. 371.
- ^ BrankoviÄ 1966, p. 107.
- ^ DuliÄ 2005, p. 194.
- ^ MiÄanoviÄ 1971, p. 250.
- ^ HamoviÄ 1994, p. 262.
- ^ MiÄanoviÄ 1971, p. 251.
- ^ Mikeln, MiloŔ; Ravnikar, Tatjana; SotoŔek, Brane (1981). Pekel 1941. Cankarjeva založba. p. 229.
- ^ TerziÄ 1957, p. 139.
- ^ Institut 1969, p. 242.
- ^ Istorijski arhiv KomunistiÄke partije Jugoslavije. 1949. p. 44.
- ^ Sarajevo, Institut za istoriju radniÄkog pokreta (1969). Prilozi. p. 238.
- ^ Istorijski glasnik: organ DruÅ”tva istoriÄara SR Srbije. DruÅ”tvo. 1971. p. 32.
- ^ HamoviÄ 1994, p. 83.
- ^ Petovar & TrikiÄ 1982, p. 51.
- ^ ŠŠ 1962, p. 256.
- ^ ÄekiÄ 1996, p. 22. sfn error: no target: CITEREFÄekiÄ1996 (help)
Sourcesā»
- MiÄanoviÄ, Slavko (1971). IstoÄna Bosna u NOB-u 1941ā1945: SjeÄanja uÄesnika. Redaktori: Slavko MiÄanoviÄ [i dr.]. Izbor fotografija: Nedžad Bise. VojnoizdavaÄki zavod.
- ŠŠ (1962). Vesnik. Belgrade (Serbia) Vojni muzej Jugoslovenske marodne armije.
- HamoviÄ, MiloÅ” (1994). IzbjegliÅ”tvo u Bosni i Hercegovini: 1941ā1945. Filip ViÅ”njiÄ.
- Institut (1969). Prilozi. Institut za istoriju radniÄkog pokreta Sarajevo.
- Petovar, Rudi; TrikiÄ, Savo (1982). Å esta proleterska istoÄno-bosanska brigada. VojnoizdavaÄki zavod.
- Muzej (1966). Prilozi za prouÄavanje istorije Sarajeva. Muzej grada Sarajeva.
- BrankoviÄ, Mesud (1966). Rogatica. Svjetlost.
- TerziÄ, Velimir (1957). Oslobodilacki rat naroda Jugoslavije 1941ā1945. Vojni istoriski Institut Jugoslovenske narodne armije.
- DuliÄ, Tomislav (2005). Utopias of Nation: Local Mass Killing in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1941ā42. Uppsala Universitet. ISBN 978-91-554-6302-1.
Further readingā»
- dela, Croatia (Republic : 1941-1945). Ministarstvo inostranih (1942). OdmetniÄka zvjerstva i pustoÅ”enja u nezavisnoj državi hrvatskoj u prvim mjesecima života hrvatske narodne države (in Serbo-Croatian). Ministarstvo vanjskih poslova.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) ā 1942 Report of Croatian Ministry - Romac, PaÅ”ko (1950). Borbe: biljeÅ”ke i sjeÄanja iz narodnooslobodilaÄkog rata. Matica srpska. ā Testimony of PaÅ”ko RomiÄ who participated in 1941 capture of Rogatica