Serbian Volunteer Corps
Encyclopedia
The Serbian Volunteer Corps or SDK , also known as Ljotićevci after their ideological leader Dimitrije Ljotić
, was a collaborationist anti-Partisan military formation in Nedić's Serbia
during World War II
. In July 1941, a full scale rebellion by the communist Yugoslav Partisans and the royalist Chetniks
erupted in Serbia. The Germans pressured Milan Nedić
's collaborationist government to deal with the uprisings under the threat of letting the armed forces of Croatia
, Hungary
, and Bulgaria
occupy the country and maintain peace and order in it.
proposed that government should call Serbian people to form anti-communist units. The next day 234 members of ZBOR
, Ljotić's and Olćan's pre-war party enlisted as the first volunteers. On 17 September the Serbian Volunteer Command was formed under the command of Colonel Konstantin Mušicki, a Serbian
officer. The command consisted of 12 companies, each 120-150 men strong. Many volunteers came from the student ZBOR organization and others were refugees from Croatia. The men wore olive green uniforms or, in the case of officers, the uniform of the former Yugoslav armed forces, with the Cross of St. George on the right breast. Ranks or grade designations were for all practical purposes those of the former Royal Yugoslav Army
. Weapons were mixed; besides German arms which were eventually supplied, foreign rifles and machine guns, especially those seized as war booty from the defeated Yugoslav forces were used. Mortars and light artillery were also on hand in varying quantities.
The command also had an educational department whose task was to educate fighters ideologically. The head of the educational section was journalist Ratko Parežanin. It also had an intelligence section which had centres all over Serbia. The spiritual needs of the corps were maintained by protojerej Aleksa Todorović.
village near Grocka
, clearing the area of communists with four Partisans
and two SDK members killed. In November before an offensive in the Republic of Užice
Milan Nedić ordered that the SDK, Serbian State Guard and Kosta Pećanac
's Chetniks should be put under joint command. On 22 November a joint military formation called the Šumadija
Corps was formed under the command of Konstantin Mušicki. The Corps was put under the command of the German 113th Division with which they fought between 25 and 29 November after the majority of Partisan troops had escaped to the Italian
zone. After defeating Partisan troops, the Germans turned to fighting Draža Mihailović
's Chetniks. Konstantin Mušicki informed Mihailović of the German plans and Mihailović managed to evade capture. Due to this Mušicki was arrested on 9 December in Čačak
and replaced by Brigadier Ilija Kukić. Nedić intervened to secure Mušicki's release and he was back in command as soon as those Germans that were familiar with the case had left Belgrade at the end of 1942.
By 15 February 1942, the Corps had a strength of 172 officers and 3,513 men, which was very close to the planned strength for the five battalions. During 1942 SDK clashed with Partisans in southern Serbia. Although they inflicted considerable losses on the Partisans they didn't manage to crush them completely in southern Serbia. In Western Serbia, SDK with gendarmerie, Germans and Chetniks attacked the Kosmaj
, Valjevo
and Suvobor
Partisan battalions who had returned from Bosnia
. They managed to defeat all except Valjevo which escaped through enemy lines. At the end of 1942 there were 12 companies in 5 battalions and Germans granted them formal recognition on 1 January 1943, by officially changing its designation to the Serbian Volunteer Corps.
In 1943 SDK clashed with the Partisans near Požarevac
, Kruševac
, Aranđelovac and in Mačva
. They also clashed with Draža Mihailović
's Chetniks. On 28 September Chetniks killed Dušan Marković
, commander of the 4th volunteer battalion with 20 of his volunteers and soon after Miloš Vojnović Lautner, commander of the 3rd volunteer battalion. On 15 May the Wehrmacht captured 4000 Chetniks under Major Pavle Đurišić in Montenegro. Đurišić was to be sent to Strij camp in Poland
but managed to escape and was in Belgrade in November that year. Đurišić was soon captured by the Gestapo
but under guarantees of Nedić and Ljotić was released under condition that he put his troops under SDK command. Đurišić accepted the offer, formed three SDK regiments and became Mušicki's second in command.
The Partisans had meanwhile grown to an army of considerable strength, and by the summer of 1943 were once again active throughout Serbia. This renewed activity greatly worried the responsible German commanders, since the strength of the occupation forces had declined considerably during the relatively peaceful months of 1942. Nedić was also aware of this problem, and went to see Adolf Hitler
at Obersalzberg
in the hope of finding a solution. The meeting was on 15 September 1943, and Nedić managed to secure an agreement for the reinforcement of the SDK by five additional battalions, with a further five to follow as circumstances permitted. These measures were immediately carried out, and by 20 October each of the five independent battalions had become a regiment with a strength of two battalions. The reorganization was based on the SDK’s "exemplary conduct in battle against the Communist Partisans" . Training for the five new battalions took place at the respective regimental garrison locations: SDK 1st Regiment in Valjevo, 2nd Regiment in Kragujevac
, 3rd in Šabac
, 4th in Smederevo
, and 5th in Kruševac
. Corps headquarters stayed in Belgrade
.
The SDK fought the Partisans throughout the spring (attacking 2nd and 5th Partisan Divisions in western Serbia) and summer of 1944 (in Toplice and Jablanice) in a number of large operations. On June 21 Milan Nedić ordered the formation of the Iron Regiment in Leskovac
but during its formation most troops escaped to the Chetniks. By 21 August 1944 the five-regiment SDK had reached a strength of 9,886 officers and men, and from its inception to September 1944 had suffered 700 killed and 1,800 wounded in action.
support began their final offensive
in Serbia. The major battle was on 9 September when the Partisans totally defeated joint SDK and Chetnik forces. After this defeat, the Chetniks decided to cross the Drina
river and continue their struggle in Bosnia. Under these circumstances the SDK supreme command decided to withdraw to Slovenia
where Dimitrije Ljotić's idea was to form a joint front of nationalist, anti-communist forces.
The withdrawal began on 8 October during the final joint Partisan and Red Army
assault on Belgrade when the 1st volunteer regiment under Major Ilija Mićašević and 4th volunteer regiment under Major Vojislav Dimitrijević crossed the Sava river. The 3rd regiment under Major Jovan Dobrosavljević delayed crossing the Sava as they were fighting the Partisans in Šabac
and met up with the others later in Ruma
. The 2nd Regiment under Major Marisav Petrović crossed the Sava near Obrenovac
. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 5th Regiment were still on the ground. When they reached Niš
they learned that the Red Army had taken Aleksinac
and their way to Belgrade was blocked. The commander of 5th Regiment was forced to change the withdrawal plan and moved across the Raška
mountains with the Wehrmacht towards Bosnia. The 1st Battalion of 5th Regiment under Captain Vasa Ogrizović held Zaječar
but as soon as the Russians crossed the Danube
they moved to Belgrade and crossed the Sava and they became a temporary part of the 4th Regiment. Most troops met each other at Sremska Mitrovica
where they awaited trains for transfer to Slovenia.
Meanwhile, major changes in Berlin
had an impact on many non-German volunteers fighting with German forces. There was a branch-of-service redistribution by ethnic group, and the Serbian volunteers now found themselves under the authority of the Waffen-SS
. The order effecting the transfer was dated 9 November, but not formally recognized until 27 November. At this time the SDK composition on paper was a corps staff, five regiments each with three battalions, a signal company, a mountain supply detachment and German liaison staff. It is important to point out at this time that the SDK's relationship with the Waffen-SS was official, but not on the ground. The troops never wore SS uniforms, and it is doubtful whether the relationship ever went beyond the simple exchange of a limited amount of paperwork. The SDK's situation was quite similar to that of the XV. Kosaken-Kavallerie-Korps, which was also absorbed into the Waffen-SS at about the same time.
As they reached Slovenia
the SDK troops concentrated in the area around Ilirska Bistrica
and Postojna
with command being set up in Ilirska Bistrica. As soon as he arrived in Slovenia Dimitrije Ljotić got in touch with pro-Nazi Slovenian Domobranci commander Leon Rupnik
and Bishop of Ljubljana
Gregorij Rožman
and agreed on mutual help and co-operation. SDK established volunteer schools in Ilirska Bistrica, one for officer training and one ideological. The school for officers was directed by Ljotić himself. During the settling in period, the 3,000 able-bodied survivors of the SDK were augmented by released Serbian POWs, Chetniks, and members of the Serbian State Guard who had been evacuated to Istria
. These new additions brought the unit's strength to approximately 8,000. Lika
Chetnik Corps and Slovenian Chetniks called Plava Garda ('Blue Guard') were also present in Slovenia and they also joined the Nationalist front. Nationalist formations in Slovenia numbered about 40,000 armed men in total.
The part of 5th Regiment that withdrew reached Bosnia in mid-November and began to move towards Slovenia. It was during the move north that an event befell the SDK which was to cripple the unit's leadership capability in the coming months. 30 to 40 officers were seized in Zagreb
by the Croatian Ustaše
and executed. The Ustaše considered them dangerous enemies of the Croatian State
, and this was the Ustaše response to the German failure to obtain permission prior to transporting these Serbs through their country. Any Serb who supported the 'Greater Serbia' concept, as did Ljotić and his followers, was by definition an enemy of Pavelić
's Croatia.
SDK's first major action in Slovenia was to take the Partisan-held Kras
village of Col on 18 December 1944. From 19 December to the end of the month a major encircle-and-destroy operation was mounted from the garrison towns of Gorizia
, Idrija
, Postojna
and Sežana
aiming to eliminate the Partisan stronghold in the Trnovska Mountains. Nearly 5,000 men were used, including 500 from the SDK's 1st Regiment in Postojna, the 10th SS-Police Regiment, Italian R.S.I. troops, and Slovenian Domobranci (pro-Nazi Slovenian militia).
The next campaign participated in by the SDK was against Josip Broz Tito
's 9th Corps during the first few days of March 1945 and codenamed Ruebezahl. Two combat groups were formed to strike against Partisan concentrations near Lokve. The first group was called 'Zuschneid', and comprised three SS-Police battalions, elements of the 1st Slovenian Domobranci Assault Regiment, two SDK battalions and one Caucasian battalion, with a total force of around 5,000 men. The second group, 'Koestermann', consisted of two battalions of the German 730th Infantry Regiment (710th Inf. Div.), a police company and some engineers, with a total of 2,500 men. The attacking forces pushed forward from a south and west direction, and this time the operation was more successful. The Partisans suffered moderate losses, and the concentration was broken up and dispersed to the northeast.
However, the Partisans quickly regrouped, so the Germans were forced to conduct a supplementary operation (19 March-7 April), which proved to be the final operation against Tito's 9th Corps. Four combat groups were organized along the perimeter of the area now occupied by the Partisans, with the task of bringing the 9th Corps to battle by gradually advancing in unison toward the centre, and thereby reducing the size of the area under their control. This was the standard German method of cleansing a Partisan-controlled area, that never significantly changed during the course of the war. To the west, along a line Idrija
-Rijeka
-Grahovo-Podbrdo, Combat Group Blank was assembled with major elements of the 10th and 15th SS-Police Regiments, II./1. SDK Rgt, II./4. SDK Rgt, 21st SS-Police Reconnaissance Co., SS-Police Company 'Schmidt' and an artillery battery from the LXXXXVII Army Corps. This force was later joined on 4 April by the 2nd and 3rd SDK Regiments, and 1,500 men from the Chetnik 502 Lika Corps. The second group, under Police Major Dr Dippelhofer, consisted of the Ljubljana SS NCO School, Slovenian Domobranci, Chetniks and a 1,200-man Russia
n ROA
unit. This group was deployed to the southeast along the line Idrija-Škofja Loka
. The northern assault group, 4,500 men from the 13th, 17th and 28th SS-Police Regiments formed up along the road between Podbrdo and Škofja Loka, while a special assault force from the 14th Ukrainian SS Division was concentrated along the north-eastern side of the perimeter.
The area encircled was mountainous, thickly forested, and still deep in winter snow. Once off the few roads that encircle the area, the attacking forces were faced with extremely difficult terrain that limited their progress to a few kilometres each day, inhibited contact with neighbouring units, and greatly restricted the ability to rapidly bring up fresh supplies and heavy weapons. Very soon gaps developed in the line of advance, through which the main body of 9th Corps escaped. Although a number of minor skirmishes were fought, and casualties suffered on both sides, the overall result of the operation was disappointing.
On 27 March, General Damjanović replaced General Mušicki as commander of the Serbian Volunteer Corps and the SDK became a component of Draža Mihailović
’s Yugoslav Army in the Homeland, the formal name for the Chetnik forces, although the Corps was still assigned to the HSSuPF Trieste
under SS-Gruppenführer Odilo Globocnik
. Whether this change affected the SDK’s relationship to the Waffen-SS is unknown, but doubtful. Shortly thereafter, Hermann Neubacher, Hitler’s special political representative for the Balkans
, paid a visit to Ljotić in Trieste to discuss German fears about what would happen when the SDK and Chetnik forces in Istria came into contact with British
and American units who were expected to move in that direction from Italy. Ljotić reassured Neubacher of the SDK’s loyalty.
Meanwhile, Tito’s 4th Army was advancing north along the coastal road from Novi Vinodolski
, Croatia to liberate Istria
, Trieste
and all of central and western Slovenia
. German Army Group E immediately issued orders to the LXXXXVII Army Corps to build a perimeter around the port city of Rijeka
, to try to block the 4th Army's westward advance. In early April the 237th Infantry Division was rushed to the area, and within a few days defensive positions were established in a 21-kilometre arc to the east and north of the city. The 4th Army began its attack on Rijeka around 20 April with the Partisan 13th, 19th and 43rd Divisions. Although the outnumbered German 237th Infantry Division offered stiff resistance and held its positions, General Kuebler ordered the 188th Reserve Mountain Division to launch an immediate attack on Partisan concentrations in the vicinity of Grobnik
Airfield, 16 kilometres north east of Rijeka. To support this attack, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th SDK Regiments were moved up from the Postojna area. However the regiments of the Serbian Volunteer Corps arrived too late and never made contact with the 188th Mountain Division. The attack on the airfield was unsuccessful, and by 23 April it was clear to General Kuebler that his Corps was threatened with total encirclement. Kuebler's appreciation of the situation was entirely correct, as on 22 April the general staff of Tito's 4th Army ordered a flanking movement to bypass the city. While the LXXXXVII Corps continued to be pressed by three divisions, the Partisan 20th Division was brought up from Ogulin along with one additional brigade, three tank battalions and two artillery battalions. This force moved to the north, around the German defensive perimeter, and advanced on Trieste via Ilirska Bistrica
with the intention of linking up with the Partisan 9th Corps which was pushing south on Trieste.
As the battle for Rijeka moved toward its inevitable conclusion, SDK Regiments 2, 3, and 4 were sent to Ljubljana and transferred to the authority of SS-Obergruppenführer Erwin Rösener
, HSSuPF for Carinthia, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of Army Group E's rear area. Rösener's task was to open up and keep open the road and rail routes in northern Slovenia to facilitate the Army Group's withdrawal from Croatia north into Austria
. SDK Regiments 1 and 5 remained assigned to Globočnik, who had meanwhile transferred his headquarters from Trieste to Udine
, across the Isonzo River in Italy
. The SDK was therefore split into two groups, one in central Slovenia under Rösener and moving toward the Austrian border, while the other was in the extreme western part of Slovenia under Globočnik moving toward Italy.
On 29 April, as Tito's forces were closing on the Trieste area, General Damjanović issued orders to the 1st and 5th Regiments to cross into Italy, where on 5 May in the town of Palmanova
(50 km northwest of Trieste) between 2,400 and 2,800 SDK men surrendered to the British.
The men belonging to the other three regiments experienced a less agreeable fate. They moved north from the Ljubljana area into Austria and surrendered to the British at Unterbergen on the Drava
River on 12 May 1945. 20 days later these 2,418 men were turned over to Tito's Partisans. Some were executed almost immediately in Kočevski Rog
, while the others were carted off along with 10,000 Slovenian Domobranci to the infamous camp at Šentvid
, near Ljubljana. Subsequently, after a period of brutalization, these too were executed.
The group that surrendered in Italy was eventually transported to a camp at Münster
, Germany
, where they were released in July, 1947. These men made their way to various countries around the world, including the United States
. General Mušicki was arrested by the Allied authorities, returned to Yugoslavia
, and executed in 1946 as a result of sentences passed at the same war crimes trial that pronounced the death sentence
on Draža Mihailović
and a number of others.
Dimitrije Ljotic
Dimitrije Ljotić was a Serbian politician and Nazi German collaborationist during World War II.Although born in Belgrade he spent most of his life in Smederevo. His ancestors came to Serbia from the village of Blace in what is today Greek Macedonia during the first half of 19th century...
, was a collaborationist anti-Partisan military formation in Nedić's Serbia
Nedic's Serbia
Serbia under German occupation refers to an administrative area in occupied Yugoslavia established by Nazi Germany following the invasion and dismantling of Yugoslavia in April of 1941...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In July 1941, a full scale rebellion by the communist Yugoslav Partisans and the royalist Chetniks
Chetniks
Chetniks, or the Chetnik movement , were Serbian nationalist and royalist paramilitary organizations from the first half of the 20th century. The Chetniks were formed as a Serbian resistance against the Ottoman Empire in 1904, and participated in the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II...
erupted in Serbia. The Germans pressured Milan Nedić
Milan Nedic
Milan Nedić was a Serbian general and politician, he was the chief of the general staff of the Yugoslav Army, minister of war in the Royal Yugoslav Government and the prime minister of a Nazi-backed Serbian puppet government during World War II.After the war, Yugoslav communist authorities...
's collaborationist government to deal with the uprisings under the threat of letting the armed forces of Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
, Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
, and Bulgaria
Kingdom of Bulgaria
The Kingdom of Bulgaria was established as an independent state when the Principality of Bulgaria, an Ottoman vassal, officially proclaimed itself independent on October 5, 1908 . This move also formalised the annexation of the Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia, which had been under the control...
occupy the country and maintain peace and order in it.
Formation
On 15 September 1941 Nedić proposed that the government should be dismissed and allow Serbia's neighbours to police it but minister Mihailo OlćanMihailo Olcan
Mihailo Olćan was a Serbian soldier and fascist politician.He finished gymnasium in Novi Sad and enrolled in medicine at the university in Pest. With the outbreak of World War I Olćan he joined the Austro-Hungarian army...
proposed that government should call Serbian people to form anti-communist units. The next day 234 members of ZBOR
ZBOR
Yugoslav National Movement "Zbor" , commonly known simply as ZBOR, was a Yugoslav fascist and conservative nationalist movement formed in 1935 by Dimitrije Ljotić. ZBOR's ideology was a blend of Italian Fascism, Nazism, and Serbian Orthodox Christian fundamentalism...
, Ljotić's and Olćan's pre-war party enlisted as the first volunteers. On 17 September the Serbian Volunteer Command was formed under the command of Colonel Konstantin Mušicki, a Serbian
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
officer. The command consisted of 12 companies, each 120-150 men strong. Many volunteers came from the student ZBOR organization and others were refugees from Croatia. The men wore olive green uniforms or, in the case of officers, the uniform of the former Yugoslav armed forces, with the Cross of St. George on the right breast. Ranks or grade designations were for all practical purposes those of the former Royal Yugoslav Army
Royal Yugoslav Army
The Royal Yugoslav Army was the armed force of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from the state's formation until the force's surrender to the Axis powers on April 17, 1941...
. Weapons were mixed; besides German arms which were eventually supplied, foreign rifles and machine guns, especially those seized as war booty from the defeated Yugoslav forces were used. Mortars and light artillery were also on hand in varying quantities.
The command also had an educational department whose task was to educate fighters ideologically. The head of the educational section was journalist Ratko Parežanin. It also had an intelligence section which had centres all over Serbia. The spiritual needs of the corps were maintained by protojerej Aleksa Todorović.
Uniform
Serbian Volunteer Corps troops received Yugoslav or Italian uniforms on which they wore black cloth collar patches, rank badges on the shoulder straps, and a metal corps badge on the right breast. Their helmets were Italian.Active duty
The volunteers saw their first action on 17 September 1941 in DražanjDražanj
Dražanj is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the municipality of Grocka.Dražanj is located in the southern part of the municipality, in the northern Šumadija region, between the macro-region of Podunavlje and northeastern slopes of the Kosmaj mountain...
village near Grocka
Grocka
Grocka is a suburban neighborhood and one of 17 municipalities which constitute the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.- Location :...
, clearing the area of communists with four Partisans
Partisans (Yugoslavia)
The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...
and two SDK members killed. In November before an offensive in the Republic of Užice
Republic of Užice
The Republic of Užice was a short-lived liberated Yugoslav territory and the first liberated territory in World War II Europe, organized as a military mini-state that existed in the autumn of 1941 in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia, more specifically the western part of Serbia...
Milan Nedić ordered that the SDK, Serbian State Guard and Kosta Pećanac
Kosta Pecanac
Kosta Milovanović Pećanac was a Chetnik voivoda during the Second World War.-Origin:Kosta Milovanović was born in 1879, the exact date is not known as his military paper only has the year of birth. His father was a guardian of the Visoki Dečani monastery. His parents both died during an attack by...
's Chetniks should be put under joint command. On 22 November a joint military formation called the Šumadija
Šumadija
Šumadija is a geographical region in Serbia. The area is heavily covered with forests, hence the name...
Corps was formed under the command of Konstantin Mušicki. The Corps was put under the command of the German 113th Division with which they fought between 25 and 29 November after the majority of Partisan troops had escaped to the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
zone. After defeating Partisan troops, the Germans turned to fighting Draža Mihailović
Draža Mihailovic
Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović was a Yugoslav Serbian general during World War II...
's Chetniks. Konstantin Mušicki informed Mihailović of the German plans and Mihailović managed to evade capture. Due to this Mušicki was arrested on 9 December in Čačak
Cacak
Čačak is a city in central Serbia. It is the administrative center of the Moravica District of Serbia. Čačak is also the main industrial, cultural and sport center of the district...
and replaced by Brigadier Ilija Kukić. Nedić intervened to secure Mušicki's release and he was back in command as soon as those Germans that were familiar with the case had left Belgrade at the end of 1942.
By 15 February 1942, the Corps had a strength of 172 officers and 3,513 men, which was very close to the planned strength for the five battalions. During 1942 SDK clashed with Partisans in southern Serbia. Although they inflicted considerable losses on the Partisans they didn't manage to crush them completely in southern Serbia. In Western Serbia, SDK with gendarmerie, Germans and Chetniks attacked the Kosmaj
Kosmaj
Kosmaj is a mountain south of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. With an elevation of 626 meters, it is the highest point of the entire Belgrade City area and is nicknamed one of two "Belgrade mountains" .- Location :The Kosmaj, is located 40 kilometers south-east of Belgrade...
, Valjevo
Valjevo
Valjevo is a city and municipality located in western Serbia. It is the center of the Kolubara District, which includes five other smaller municipalities with a total population of almost 180,000 people...
and Suvobor
Suvobor
Suvobor is a mountain in central Serbia, near the town of Gornji Milanovac. Its highest peak Suvobor has an altitude of 866 meters above sea level....
Partisan battalions who had returned from Bosnia
Bosnia (region)
Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...
. They managed to defeat all except Valjevo which escaped through enemy lines. At the end of 1942 there were 12 companies in 5 battalions and Germans granted them formal recognition on 1 January 1943, by officially changing its designation to the Serbian Volunteer Corps.
In 1943 SDK clashed with the Partisans near Požarevac
Požarevac
Požarevac is a city and municipality in eastern Serbia. It is the administrative center of the Braničevo District of Serbia...
, Kruševac
Kruševac
Kruševac is a city and municipality, and the administrative center of the Rasina District, in central Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the municipality has a population of 127,429, while the town has 57,627....
, Aranđelovac and in Mačva
Macva
Mačva is a geographical region in Serbia, mostly situated in the northwest of Central Serbia. It is located in a fertile plain between the Sava and Drina rivers. The chief town of this region is Šabac. The modern Mačva District of Serbia is named after the region, although the region of Mačva...
. They also clashed with Draža Mihailović
Draža Mihailovic
Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović was a Yugoslav Serbian general during World War II...
's Chetniks. On 28 September Chetniks killed Dušan Marković
Dušan Marković
Dušan "srbenda" Marković was a Serbian football player and manager....
, commander of the 4th volunteer battalion with 20 of his volunteers and soon after Miloš Vojnović Lautner, commander of the 3rd volunteer battalion. On 15 May the Wehrmacht captured 4000 Chetniks under Major Pavle Đurišić in Montenegro. Đurišić was to be sent to Strij camp in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
but managed to escape and was in Belgrade in November that year. Đurišić was soon captured by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
but under guarantees of Nedić and Ljotić was released under condition that he put his troops under SDK command. Đurišić accepted the offer, formed three SDK regiments and became Mušicki's second in command.
The Partisans had meanwhile grown to an army of considerable strength, and by the summer of 1943 were once again active throughout Serbia. This renewed activity greatly worried the responsible German commanders, since the strength of the occupation forces had declined considerably during the relatively peaceful months of 1942. Nedić was also aware of this problem, and went to see Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
at Obersalzberg
Obersalzberg
Obersalzberg is a mountainside retreat situated above the market town of Berchtesgaden in Bavaria, Germany, located about southeast of Munich, close to the border with Austria...
in the hope of finding a solution. The meeting was on 15 September 1943, and Nedić managed to secure an agreement for the reinforcement of the SDK by five additional battalions, with a further five to follow as circumstances permitted. These measures were immediately carried out, and by 20 October each of the five independent battalions had become a regiment with a strength of two battalions. The reorganization was based on the SDK’s "exemplary conduct in battle against the Communist Partisans" . Training for the five new battalions took place at the respective regimental garrison locations: SDK 1st Regiment in Valjevo, 2nd Regiment in Kragujevac
Kragujevac
Kragujevac is the fourth largest city in Serbia, the main city of the Šumadija region and the administrative centre of Šumadija District. It is situated on the banks of the Lepenica River...
, 3rd in Šabac
Šabac
Šabac is a city and municipality in western Serbia, along the Sava river, in the historic region of Mačva. It is the administrative center of the Mačva District. The city has a population of 52,822 , while population of the municipality is 115,347...
, 4th in Smederevo
Smederevo
Smederevo is a city and municipality in Serbia, on the right bank of the Danube, about 40 km downstream of the capital Belgrade. According to official results of the 2011 census, the city has a population of 107,528...
, and 5th in Kruševac
Kruševac
Kruševac is a city and municipality, and the administrative center of the Rasina District, in central Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the municipality has a population of 127,429, while the town has 57,627....
. Corps headquarters stayed in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
.
Leskovac
Leskovac is a city and municipality in southern Serbia. It is the administrative center of the Jablanica District of Serbia...
but during its formation most troops escaped to the Chetniks. By 21 August 1944 the five-regiment SDK had reached a strength of 9,886 officers and men, and from its inception to September 1944 had suffered 700 killed and 1,800 wounded in action.
Retreat and demise
In September the Partisans with Red ArmyRed Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
support began their final offensive
Offensive (military)
An offensive is a military operation that seeks through aggressive projection of armed force to occupy territory, gain an objective or achieve some larger strategic, operational or tactical goal...
in Serbia. The major battle was on 9 September when the Partisans totally defeated joint SDK and Chetnik forces. After this defeat, the Chetniks decided to cross the Drina
Drina
The Drina is a 346 kilometer long river, which forms most of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Alps which belongs to the Danube river watershed...
river and continue their struggle in Bosnia. Under these circumstances the SDK supreme command decided to withdraw to Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
where Dimitrije Ljotić's idea was to form a joint front of nationalist, anti-communist forces.
The withdrawal began on 8 October during the final joint Partisan and Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
assault on Belgrade when the 1st volunteer regiment under Major Ilija Mićašević and 4th volunteer regiment under Major Vojislav Dimitrijević crossed the Sava river. The 3rd regiment under Major Jovan Dobrosavljević delayed crossing the Sava as they were fighting the Partisans in Šabac
Šabac
Šabac is a city and municipality in western Serbia, along the Sava river, in the historic region of Mačva. It is the administrative center of the Mačva District. The city has a population of 52,822 , while population of the municipality is 115,347...
and met up with the others later in Ruma
Ruma
Ruma is a town and municipality located in Vojvodina, Serbia at . In 2002 the town had a total population of 34,229, while Ruma municipality had a population of 60,006.-History:...
. The 2nd Regiment under Major Marisav Petrović crossed the Sava near Obrenovac
Obrenovac
Obrenovac is a town and municipality located in Serbia at 44°40′ North, 20°13′ East. Its name stems from last name "Obrenović" which in turn stems from name "Obren" in Serbian language. In 2003 the municipality has total population of 75,949...
. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 5th Regiment were still on the ground. When they reached Niš
Niš
Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
they learned that the Red Army had taken Aleksinac
Aleksinac
Aleksinac is a town which is a center of Aleksinac Municipality, located in the Nišava District of Serbia. According to 2011 census, the town has a population of 16,420 inhabitants, while the municipality has 51,462.-Name:...
and their way to Belgrade was blocked. The commander of 5th Regiment was forced to change the withdrawal plan and moved across the Raška
Raška (state)
Principality of Serbia or Serbian Principality was an early medieval state of the Serbs ruled by the Vlastimirović dynasty, that existed from ca 768 to 969 in Southeastern Europe. It was established through an unification of several provincial chiefs under the supreme rule of a certain Višeslav,...
mountains with the Wehrmacht towards Bosnia. The 1st Battalion of 5th Regiment under Captain Vasa Ogrizović held Zaječar
Zajecar
Zaječar is a city and municipality in the eastern part of Serbia. According to the 2011 census the town has a population of 36,830, and its coordinates are 43.91° North, 22.30° East...
but as soon as the Russians crossed the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
they moved to Belgrade and crossed the Sava and they became a temporary part of the 4th Regiment. Most troops met each other at Sremska Mitrovica
Sremska Mitrovica
Sremska Mitrovica is a city and municipality located in the Vojvodina province of Serbia, on the left bank of the Sava river. As of 2002 the town had a total population of 39,041, while Sremska Mitrovica municipality had a population of 85,605...
where they awaited trains for transfer to Slovenia.
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
had an impact on many non-German volunteers fighting with German forces. There was a branch-of-service redistribution by ethnic group, and the Serbian volunteers now found themselves under the authority of the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
. The order effecting the transfer was dated 9 November, but not formally recognized until 27 November. At this time the SDK composition on paper was a corps staff, five regiments each with three battalions, a signal company, a mountain supply detachment and German liaison staff. It is important to point out at this time that the SDK's relationship with the Waffen-SS was official, but not on the ground. The troops never wore SS uniforms, and it is doubtful whether the relationship ever went beyond the simple exchange of a limited amount of paperwork. The SDK's situation was quite similar to that of the XV. Kosaken-Kavallerie-Korps, which was also absorbed into the Waffen-SS at about the same time.
As they reached Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
the SDK troops concentrated in the area around Ilirska Bistrica
Ilirska Bistrica
Ilirska Bistrica is a town and a municipality in Slovenia. It belongs to the traditional region of Primorska.The town of Ilirska Bistrica is the major economic centre of the district of the same name...
and Postojna
Postojna
Postojna is a town and a municipality in the traditional region of Inner Carniola, from Trieste, in southwestern Slovenia. Population 14,581 .-History:...
with command being set up in Ilirska Bistrica. As soon as he arrived in Slovenia Dimitrije Ljotić got in touch with pro-Nazi Slovenian Domobranci commander Leon Rupnik
Leon Rupnik
Leon Rupnik, also known as Lav Rupnik or Lev Rupnik was a Slovene general during the Kingdom of Yugoslavia who collaborated with the Fascist Italian and Nazi German occupation forces during World War II...
and Bishop of Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
Gregorij Rožman
Gregorij Rožman
Gregorij Rožman was a Slovenian Roman Catholic clergyman and theologian. Between 1930 and 1959, he served as bishop of the Diocese of Ljubljana. He is most famous for his controversial role during World War II...
and agreed on mutual help and co-operation. SDK established volunteer schools in Ilirska Bistrica, one for officer training and one ideological. The school for officers was directed by Ljotić himself. During the settling in period, the 3,000 able-bodied survivors of the SDK were augmented by released Serbian POWs, Chetniks, and members of the Serbian State Guard who had been evacuated to Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
. These new additions brought the unit's strength to approximately 8,000. Lika
Lika
Lika is a mountainous region in central Croatia, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by the Malovan pass...
Chetnik Corps and Slovenian Chetniks called Plava Garda ('Blue Guard') were also present in Slovenia and they also joined the Nationalist front. Nationalist formations in Slovenia numbered about 40,000 armed men in total.
The part of 5th Regiment that withdrew reached Bosnia in mid-November and began to move towards Slovenia. It was during the move north that an event befell the SDK which was to cripple the unit's leadership capability in the coming months. 30 to 40 officers were seized in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
by the Croatian Ustaše
Ustaše
The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...
and executed. The Ustaše considered them dangerous enemies of the Croatian State
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
, and this was the Ustaše response to the German failure to obtain permission prior to transporting these Serbs through their country. Any Serb who supported the 'Greater Serbia' concept, as did Ljotić and his followers, was by definition an enemy of Pavelić
Ante Pavelic
Ante Pavelić was a Croatian fascist leader, revolutionary, and politician. He ruled as Poglavnik or head, of the Independent State of Croatia , a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany in Axis-occupied Yugoslavia...
's Croatia.
SDK's first major action in Slovenia was to take the Partisan-held Kras
Kras
Karst ; also known as the Karst Plateau, is a limestone borderline plateau region extending in southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills surrounding the valley, the westernmost part of the Brkini Hills, northern Istria, and the Gulf of Trieste...
village of Col on 18 December 1944. From 19 December to the end of the month a major encircle-and-destroy operation was mounted from the garrison towns of Gorizia
Gorizia
Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
, Idrija
Idrija
Idrija is a small town and municipality in the Goriška region of Slovenia. It is known for its mercury mine and lace....
, Postojna
Postojna
Postojna is a town and a municipality in the traditional region of Inner Carniola, from Trieste, in southwestern Slovenia. Population 14,581 .-History:...
and Sežana
Sežana
Sežana is a town and a municipality in the Slovenian Littoral region of Slovenia, near the border with Italy. According to the census of 2008, it has a population of 12,470, of which around 5,332 live in the town of Sežana and the rest in the neighbouring rural areas.Sežana is located about on the...
aiming to eliminate the Partisan stronghold in the Trnovska Mountains. Nearly 5,000 men were used, including 500 from the SDK's 1st Regiment in Postojna, the 10th SS-Police Regiment, Italian R.S.I. troops, and Slovenian Domobranci (pro-Nazi Slovenian militia).
The next campaign participated in by the SDK was against Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
's 9th Corps during the first few days of March 1945 and codenamed Ruebezahl. Two combat groups were formed to strike against Partisan concentrations near Lokve. The first group was called 'Zuschneid', and comprised three SS-Police battalions, elements of the 1st Slovenian Domobranci Assault Regiment, two SDK battalions and one Caucasian battalion, with a total force of around 5,000 men. The second group, 'Koestermann', consisted of two battalions of the German 730th Infantry Regiment (710th Inf. Div.), a police company and some engineers, with a total of 2,500 men. The attacking forces pushed forward from a south and west direction, and this time the operation was more successful. The Partisans suffered moderate losses, and the concentration was broken up and dispersed to the northeast.
However, the Partisans quickly regrouped, so the Germans were forced to conduct a supplementary operation (19 March-7 April), which proved to be the final operation against Tito's 9th Corps. Four combat groups were organized along the perimeter of the area now occupied by the Partisans, with the task of bringing the 9th Corps to battle by gradually advancing in unison toward the centre, and thereby reducing the size of the area under their control. This was the standard German method of cleansing a Partisan-controlled area, that never significantly changed during the course of the war. To the west, along a line Idrija
Idrija
Idrija is a small town and municipality in the Goriška region of Slovenia. It is known for its mercury mine and lace....
-Rijeka
Rijeka
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...
-Grahovo-Podbrdo, Combat Group Blank was assembled with major elements of the 10th and 15th SS-Police Regiments, II./1. SDK Rgt, II./4. SDK Rgt, 21st SS-Police Reconnaissance Co., SS-Police Company 'Schmidt' and an artillery battery from the LXXXXVII Army Corps. This force was later joined on 4 April by the 2nd and 3rd SDK Regiments, and 1,500 men from the Chetnik 502 Lika Corps. The second group, under Police Major Dr Dippelhofer, consisted of the Ljubljana SS NCO School, Slovenian Domobranci, Chetniks and a 1,200-man Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n ROA
Russian Liberation Army
Russian Liberation Army was a group of predominantly Russian forces subordinated to the Nazi German high command during World War II....
unit. This group was deployed to the southeast along the line Idrija-Škofja Loka
Škofja Loka
-Art colony:Before the civil war in the former Yugoslavia the Serbian town of Smederevska Palanka and the town of Škofja Loka held art colonies Groharijeva kolonija run by an art teacher from elementary school Olga Milošević in Smederevska Palanka. Now, after the split of SFR Yugoslavia, the two...
. The northern assault group, 4,500 men from the 13th, 17th and 28th SS-Police Regiments formed up along the road between Podbrdo and Škofja Loka, while a special assault force from the 14th Ukrainian SS Division was concentrated along the north-eastern side of the perimeter.
The area encircled was mountainous, thickly forested, and still deep in winter snow. Once off the few roads that encircle the area, the attacking forces were faced with extremely difficult terrain that limited their progress to a few kilometres each day, inhibited contact with neighbouring units, and greatly restricted the ability to rapidly bring up fresh supplies and heavy weapons. Very soon gaps developed in the line of advance, through which the main body of 9th Corps escaped. Although a number of minor skirmishes were fought, and casualties suffered on both sides, the overall result of the operation was disappointing.
On 27 March, General Damjanović replaced General Mušicki as commander of the Serbian Volunteer Corps and the SDK became a component of Draža Mihailović
Draža Mihailovic
Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović was a Yugoslav Serbian general during World War II...
’s Yugoslav Army in the Homeland, the formal name for the Chetnik forces, although the Corps was still assigned to the HSSuPF Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
under SS-Gruppenführer Odilo Globocnik
Odilo Globocnik
Odilo Lotario Globocnik was a prominent Austrian Nazi and later an SS leader. He was an acquaintance of Adolf Eichmann, who played a major role in the extermination of Jews and others during the Holocaust...
. Whether this change affected the SDK’s relationship to the Waffen-SS is unknown, but doubtful. Shortly thereafter, Hermann Neubacher, Hitler’s special political representative for the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, paid a visit to Ljotić in Trieste to discuss German fears about what would happen when the SDK and Chetnik forces in Istria came into contact with British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and American units who were expected to move in that direction from Italy. Ljotić reassured Neubacher of the SDK’s loyalty.
Meanwhile, Tito’s 4th Army was advancing north along the coastal road from Novi Vinodolski
Novi Vinodolski
Novi Vinodolski is a town on the Adriatic in Croatia, located south of Crikvenica, Selce and Bribir and north of Senj. The population of Novi is 3,988, with a total of 5,131 people in the municipality ....
, Croatia to liberate Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
, Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
and all of central and western Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. German Army Group E immediately issued orders to the LXXXXVII Army Corps to build a perimeter around the port city of Rijeka
Rijeka
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...
, to try to block the 4th Army's westward advance. In early April the 237th Infantry Division was rushed to the area, and within a few days defensive positions were established in a 21-kilometre arc to the east and north of the city. The 4th Army began its attack on Rijeka around 20 April with the Partisan 13th, 19th and 43rd Divisions. Although the outnumbered German 237th Infantry Division offered stiff resistance and held its positions, General Kuebler ordered the 188th Reserve Mountain Division to launch an immediate attack on Partisan concentrations in the vicinity of Grobnik
Grobnik
Grobnik can refer to:* Toponym of Grobnik near Rijeka, Croatia** Battle of Grobnik field** Automotodrom Grobnik* Grobnik, Istria County, Croatia - a settlement near Pićan* Grobnik, Karlovac County, Croatia - a settlement near Slunj...
Airfield, 16 kilometres north east of Rijeka. To support this attack, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th SDK Regiments were moved up from the Postojna area. However the regiments of the Serbian Volunteer Corps arrived too late and never made contact with the 188th Mountain Division. The attack on the airfield was unsuccessful, and by 23 April it was clear to General Kuebler that his Corps was threatened with total encirclement. Kuebler's appreciation of the situation was entirely correct, as on 22 April the general staff of Tito's 4th Army ordered a flanking movement to bypass the city. While the LXXXXVII Corps continued to be pressed by three divisions, the Partisan 20th Division was brought up from Ogulin along with one additional brigade, three tank battalions and two artillery battalions. This force moved to the north, around the German defensive perimeter, and advanced on Trieste via Ilirska Bistrica
Ilirska Bistrica
Ilirska Bistrica is a town and a municipality in Slovenia. It belongs to the traditional region of Primorska.The town of Ilirska Bistrica is the major economic centre of the district of the same name...
with the intention of linking up with the Partisan 9th Corps which was pushing south on Trieste.
As the battle for Rijeka moved toward its inevitable conclusion, SDK Regiments 2, 3, and 4 were sent to Ljubljana and transferred to the authority of SS-Obergruppenführer Erwin Rösener
Erwin Rösener
Erwin Friedrich Karl Rösener was an SS-Obergruppenführer who was responsible for mass executions of civilians in Slovenia and was posthumously on the indictment at the Nuremberg Trials for war crimes....
, HSSuPF for Carinthia, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of Army Group E's rear area. Rösener's task was to open up and keep open the road and rail routes in northern Slovenia to facilitate the Army Group's withdrawal from Croatia north into Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. SDK Regiments 1 and 5 remained assigned to Globočnik, who had meanwhile transferred his headquarters from Trieste to Udine
Udine
Udine is a city and comune in northeastern Italy, in the middle of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic sea and the Alps , less than 40 km from the Slovenian border. Its population was 99,439 in 2009, and that of its urban area was 175,000.- History :Udine is the historical...
, across the Isonzo River in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. The SDK was therefore split into two groups, one in central Slovenia under Rösener and moving toward the Austrian border, while the other was in the extreme western part of Slovenia under Globočnik moving toward Italy.
Surrender and afterwards
At about this time, 22 April, Neubacher paid his final visit to Ljotić. A total collapse of German forces in the Balkans and in Italy was recognized as being only a matter of weeks if not days away, and Neubacher wanted to know Ljotić's plans for withdrawing and surrendering the SDK. The next day, during the hours of darkness, Ljotić accidentally drove his car into a hole that had been blown in a bridge by Allied fighter-bombers. His neck was broken and he died shortly thereafter.On 29 April, as Tito's forces were closing on the Trieste area, General Damjanović issued orders to the 1st and 5th Regiments to cross into Italy, where on 5 May in the town of Palmanova
Palmanova
Palmanova is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, close to the border with Slovenia. It is located 20 km from Udine, 28 km from Gorizia and 55 km from Trieste near the junction of the Autostrada Alpe-Adria and the Autostrada Venezia-Trieste .Palmanova is famous for its fortress...
(50 km northwest of Trieste) between 2,400 and 2,800 SDK men surrendered to the British.
The men belonging to the other three regiments experienced a less agreeable fate. They moved north from the Ljubljana area into Austria and surrendered to the British at Unterbergen on the Drava
Drava
Drava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, a tributary of the Danube. It sources in Toblach/Dobbiaco, Italy, and flows east through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria, into Slovenia , and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and...
River on 12 May 1945. 20 days later these 2,418 men were turned over to Tito's Partisans. Some were executed almost immediately in Kočevski Rog
Kocevski Rog
The Kočevski Rog or Kočevje Rog or simply Rog is a karstified plateau in the Kočevje Highlands above the Črmošnjice Valley. The plateau is part of the traditional Lower Carniola region of Slovenia and of the Dinaric Alps. The highest area is the central part, with the 1099 meter high peak Veliki...
, while the others were carted off along with 10,000 Slovenian Domobranci to the infamous camp at Šentvid
Šentvid
The Šentvid District or simply Šentvid is a city district of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia....
, near Ljubljana. Subsequently, after a period of brutalization, these too were executed.
The group that surrendered in Italy was eventually transported to a camp at Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where they were released in July, 1947. These men made their way to various countries around the world, including the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. General Mušicki was arrested by the Allied authorities, returned to Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, and executed in 1946 as a result of sentences passed at the same war crimes trial that pronounced the death sentence
Death Sentence
Death Sentence is a short story by the American science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov.-Plot summary:...
on Draža Mihailović
Draža Mihailovic
Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović was a Yugoslav Serbian general during World War II...
and a number of others.
Order of Battle (January 1943)
- 1. Battalion
- 3 x Companies
- 2. Battalion
- 3 x Companies
- 3. Battalion
- 3 x Companies
- 4. Battalion
- 3 x Companies
- 5. Battalion
- 3 x Companies
Order of Battle (1944)
- 1. Regiment
- 3 x Battalions
- 2. Regiment
- 3 x Battalions
- 3. Regiment
- 3 x Battalions
- 4. Regiment
See also
- Yugoslav Front of World War II
- Slovenian Domobranci
- Yugoslavia during the Second World War
- Invasion of YugoslaviaInvasion of YugoslaviaThe Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II...
- Seven anti-partisan offensivesSeven anti-partisan offensivesThe Seven anti-Partisan offensives, known by some sources in the former Yugoslavia as the Seven Enemy offensives , is a group name for seven major Axis military operations on the territory of former Yugoslavia during World War II, undertaken against the Yugoslav Partisans...
- Anti-partisan operations in World War IIAnti-partisan operations in World War IIAnti-partisan operations were operations against the various resistance movements during World War II by the Axis powers...
- AVNOJAVNOJThe Anti-Fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia, known more commonly by its Yugoslav abbreviation AVNOJ, was the political umbrella organization for the national liberation councils of the Yugoslav resistance against the World War II Axis occupation, eventually becoming the...
- Partisans (Yugoslavia)Partisans (Yugoslavia)The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...
- Serbian State Guard
- Ustaše
- Croatian Home GuardCroatian Home GuardCroatian Home Guard or also, known as the "Homeland Defenders," was the name used for the armed forces of the Independent State of Croatia which existed during World War II.- Formation :...
- ChetniksChetniksChetniks, or the Chetnik movement , were Serbian nationalist and royalist paramilitary organizations from the first half of the 20th century. The Chetniks were formed as a Serbian resistance against the Ottoman Empire in 1904, and participated in the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II...
- Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland
- Independent State of CroatiaIndependent State of CroatiaThe Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
during World War II - Nedić's SerbiaNedic's SerbiaSerbia under German occupation refers to an administrative area in occupied Yugoslavia established by Nazi Germany following the invasion and dismantling of Yugoslavia in April of 1941...
during World War II - Leon RupnikLeon RupnikLeon Rupnik, also known as Lav Rupnik or Lev Rupnik was a Slovene general during the Kingdom of Yugoslavia who collaborated with the Fascist Italian and Nazi German occupation forces during World War II...
- Gregorij RožmanGregorij RožmanGregorij Rožman was a Slovenian Roman Catholic clergyman and theologian. Between 1930 and 1959, he served as bishop of the Diocese of Ljubljana. He is most famous for his controversial role during World War II...