Announcing the posting of the book about great Serbian hero of two World Wars, General Draza Mihailovic, Andy Wilcoxson writes:
“I have recently come into the possession of a remarkable book published in Great Britain in 1947. The book is entitled "General Mihailovich: The World's Verdict" and it is a collection of newspaper articles about Draza Mihailovic and the Serbian Chetnik movement. Many of the articles contained in the book were written by the U.S. and British servicemen who were attached to Mihailovic's Chetnik units during the war.
“The book destroys the communist propaganda that Mihailovic was a Nazi collaborator and any fair-minded person who reads it will realize that Gen. Mihailovic's only crime was resisting the twin evils of Hitler's fascism and Stalin's communism.
“This book chronicles the shame of the Greatest Generation, and I am by no means attacking our World War II veterans when I say that. To their credit, our servicemen were ashamed that America and Britain sold-out Yugoslavia to the communists. These honorable men were outraged that we stood idly by while the communists captured and executed our ally who "found Yugoslavia's soul" and raised the first rebellion against the Nazis in Europe. The Greatest Generation did speak out against the injustice done to Mihailovic and the Serbian nation, and the things they said are contained in the pages of this book.
“Because the book is out of print and the publisher went out of business more than 50 years ago copies of it are hard to come by, so I scanned my copy, and through the magic of the Internet you can download your own copy of the book in PDF format by right clicking this link and selecting "Save Target As" (please note file is 137 MB).
“P.S.: To all of the Albanians, Muslims, and Croats who have taken the time to write me e-mails over the years calling me a "Chetnik" I thank you for bestowing such an honorable title on me. The mere fact that you think calling someone a Chetnik is an insult has done a tremendous amount to convince me of the rightness of the Serbian cause.”
Murdered for the Crime of Loyalty
Excerpt from the book’s Foreword
The disloyal will always hate the loyal. Drazha Mihailovich was arrested, tried, found guilty, sentenced to death and executed for the crime of loyalty, as were so many of his faithful companions and followers:
Damnatos fidei crimine, gravissimo inter desciscentis.
He was the victim of an international conspiracy. Some of the conspirators, it is true, were not men of ill-will. But either they were ill-informed by unworthy counsellors (as events have shown), or they were of narrow or confused understanding — men such as are easily misled by those of stronger and evil purpose.
At the heart of the conspiracy there was a malignant hatred — hatred of all the Western Powers fought for in the First and Second World Wars, hatred of honour, truth, freedom, and, therefore, of loyalty [...]
A Life-Long Soldier, War Veteran, Decorated Hero and Serbian Army General Wrote a Book on Guerrilla Warfare
Excerpts from the Introduction
Drazha Mihailovich was born in 1893 in the small town of Ivanyitza near Chachak, where his father was a schoolmaster. In 1910 Mihailovich entered the Military Academy, but his studies were interrupted in 1912 when he took part in the Serbo-Turkish War as a Cadet-Corporal. Twice decorated for his acts of bravery, he was promoted to Cadet-Sergeant and later to Second-Lieutenant in the Serbo-Bulgarian War, and participated in all operations.
When the First World War broke out in 1914, Mihailovich served with his regiment and was decorated several times. He particularly distinguished himself in an action in September, 1918 near Shtip and was promoted to First-Lieutenant and decorated with the White Eagle.
After the armistice, Mihailovich resumed his military studies. In 1929 he took a six months’ course in the French Army. Promoted to Staff Officer, then professor of tactics at the Higher College of the Military Academy, he was appointed Military Atache first in Sofia and subsequently in Prague.
On the eve of the present war, Mihailovich submitted a report to the Yugoslav General Staff in which he forecast almost everything that took place in April, 1941. He was of the opinion that the idea of defending practically indefensible Northern frontiers should be abandoned and proposed concentrating all forces in mountainous regions where the overwhelming superiority of the German tanks would be ineffectual. He wrote a book on guerrilla warfare which secured him a considerable following.
“I Don’t Know What Capitulation Means”
At the time that war broke out Colonel Mihailovich was Chief of Staff of a motorised division in Doboy, a small town in Bosnia. When capitulation was ordered by General Simovich without the knowledge of the Yugoslav Government, he refused to accept it and resolved to try to break through with chosen troops in the direction of Eastern Bosnia and Serbia, where he hoped to find an established front, and to join up with the regular army. On the way there he and his men were attacked by strong German formations, which, after fierce fighting, routed the troops; the commander of the small tank formation was taken prisoner, while Mihailovich was forced to withdraw into the hills.
Asked whether he had heard anything about the capitulation, Mihailovich answered:
“Capitulation? I do not know what capitulation is. I have served in the army for many years, but I have never heard this word.”
Colonel Mihailovich arrived at Ravna Gora on May 8th, 1941, and there the first guerrilla force was organised, not only the first in Yugoslavia, but the first in Europe; and for the first time on record in the countries of enslaved Europe a new way of opposing the conqueror was brought into effect.
General Mihailovic’s Condition for Peace: Fascist Invaders Must Evacuate My Country
Mihailovich was appointed Major-General on December 9th, 1941; Minister of War on January 11th, 1942; and Lieutenant-General on January 19th, 1942. Finally on June 17th, 1942 he was appointed General and Deputy Commander-in-Chief.
Germany became alarmed. General Dankelmann, Military Governor of Serbia, asked for reinforcements; but the German Army was too deeply involved in Russia, and it was impossible to deplete the Russian front. The German General attempted to arrange an armistice with Mihailovich, but the latter laid down certain conditions. He agreed to receive the German envoys, nevertheless his terms proved unacceptable to the Germans.
“I demand,” he said, “that the German troops evacuate my country and then peace will be restored. As long as a single enemy soldier remains on our soil we shall continue to fight.”
Third Reich offers reward for capture of General Mihailovic
Third Reich offers reward for capture of General Draza Mihailovic: 100,000 Reich Marks in gold, dead or alive. The wanted ad, written in Serbian Cyrillic, was signed by the “Commander-in-Chief of the German Troops in Serbia.”
As then, so today: Fourth Reich, with its NATO military force and puppet regimes offers reward for the head of another Serbian General, who fought against Islamic dictatorship in Bosnia.
Throughout Yugoslavia Miahilovich and his men were concealed everywhere: in the hollow recesses of the plains of the Srem and Bachka regions, in the mountains of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, amid the granite boulders of Montenegro; some were found scattered in villages which had been razed to the ground; others lurked behind the rocks of the Southern Adriatic coast; while sometimes they lived underground, hidden in secret munition dumps and caves. They lay in ambush in the ruins of bombed houses from which they would suddenly dart out and wreak vengeance on the enemy, whether German, Bulgar, Hungarian, Italian or Albanian who all collaborated in the occupation of Yugoslavia. Mihailovich’s men hovered like vultures over enemy camps ever ready to pounce upon their prey.
German Barbarism: 50 to 100 Innocent Serbian Civilians for One Killed or Missing Wehrmacht Soldier
Whereas the Germans succeeded in recruiting legionaries and volunteers for service with Wehrmacht amongst almost every conquered and satellite people in the world, yet the Serbs and the Poles never contributed a single military unit in support of the enemy.
The Germans would no longer tolerate this kind of resistance. They sent their well-known Strafexpeditionen, and the fight began again. The reprisals were appalling. They will remain for all time a symbol of German barbarism, for the Germans killed for the sake of killing.
On January 19th, 1943, a new proclamation from General Bader the Commander of the German Forces, was issued against General Mihailovich.
“A group of rebels, under the leadership of the former Colonel Drazha Mihailovich, is continuing to fight,” said General Bader. “These rebels give themselves out to be the regular Yugoslav Army and they are endeavouring to prolong the war, which was brought to a conclusion by the armistice that has been duly signed...”
Third Reich Offers 100,000 Gold Marks for General Mihailovich, Dead or Alive
Warfare went on unabated and General Mihailovich sent the following message to General Bader:
“A year and half has elapsed since I undertook this life-and-death struggle to exterminate the invaders on Yugoslav soil... Our fighting spirit is based on our traditional love of liberty and on our unflinching faith in the victory of our Allies... For every German soldier killed or missing, you ordered the shooting of 50 to 100 innocent and defenseless Serbian people. I wish to draw attention to the fact that the day of judgment is not far off. I warn you that if you continue to use savage reprisals I will use the same measures against German soldiers...”
On July 20th, 1943, the Axis-controlled Press published a proclamation offering a reward of 100,000 gold marks for the capture of Mihailovich, dead or alive. His men were being killed, seized or arrested. His followers were being questioned, tortured and imprisoned; they were also being sent to work in the mines. In spite of the extremely precarious situation, in spite of German reprisals, in spite of lack of arms and ammunition, General Mihailovich continued to exert his organized military resistance.
For military intervention supporting the Allied cause, especially at the most critical moment when Rommel’s Afrikakorps stood before El-Alamein, General Mihailovich received congratulations and thanks from the Allied Commanders. General Eisenhower, General Auchinleck, Air-Marshal Tedder, Admiral Harwood and General de Gaulle emphasized the importance of his help.
Once again the Yugoslav David defied a Goliath; and this time successfully. We owe that military success to the Yugoslav people and their leader, Mihailovich.
Allied Forces Betrayal
After the Tehran Conference, General Mihailovich was sacrificed for reasons of high political expediency. In the Autumn of 1944, he was abandoned by the Great Allies and as his attempts at co-operation with the advancing Red Army had been rejected, General Mihailovich demobilized the greater part of his forces.
In September, 1944, when his position was becoming precarious, the Americans offered to get him out of the country. General Mihailovich replied:
“I must stay with my people. My strength is in the people.”
And he stayed with his people.
The Red Army entered Belgrade on October 20th, 1944, to enthrone Tito, a Russian emissary, against the will of the great majority of the Yugoslav people. General Mihailovich remained with his people who guarded him and provided for his needs.
After five long years spent in the mountains the state of General Mihailovich’s health caused anxiety to those around him. He was begged to leave the country for a while. He categorically refused to consider taking such a step, and, in a letter—the last one written by him—he says:
“Under no conceivable circumstances will I leave my country and my people... The Communists are devoting all their efforts to capture me... On several occasions I have been in desperate straits... You know my strategic purpose—to maintain myself at all costs for the great task which lies ahead. It may be that I shall fall in our sacred cause. But you all know well that this would not mean that the righteous cause for which our nation is fighting would fall with me...”
“...The Gales of the World Have Carried Away Both Me and My Work”
Chicha Draza
General Mihailovic towards the end of the WWII. Serbian Chetniks under his command saved the lives of more than 500 American pilots whose planes were downed over German-occupied Serbia, at enormous risk and price in lives of the Serbs. Even today, General Mihailovic is called “Cica Draza” (Chi-chah, Uncle Draza) by the Serbs, out of love, respect and gratitude for his life-long sacrifice.
General Mihailovich fell seventeen months after the so-called “liberation” of Yugoslavia. Reports from Belgrade on March 24th, 1946, announced his capture under puzzling circumstances on March 13th, 1946. His trial before a Communist military court began on June 10th, 1946. He was “sentenced” to death on July 15th, 1946, and murdered on July 17th, 1946.
General Mihailovich is no more. He has departed this world convinced that he was abandoned by the Allies. The voices that were raised abroad in his defence were not allowed to reach him and he died without the satisfaction of knowing that in the opinion of many he died an innocent man and a great soldier.
General Mihailovich is no more, but the legends of his heroic deeds are becoming more and more popular and they live in the hearts of the people.
General Mihailovich is no more. He has departed this world. Those who have murdered him have not only perpetrated a crime, they have also committed a grave mistake, for democratic public opinion is well aware of General Mihailovich’s merits.
General Mihailovich is no more. The last words of this great patriot were concise and poignant. He said:
“I strove for much, I undertook much, but the gales of the world have carried away both me and my work.”
Democracy Serbian General Fought for Installed Dictatorship that Murdered him
[...] Realizing his difficult position, General Mihailovich made the following statement in August, 1944:
“More than three years ago I took up arms to fight for Democracy against Dictatorship in the form of Nazism and Fascism. In fighting for this cause there were ten occasions on which I almost lost my life. If I must die in fighting against a new form of Dictatorship, I shall die bitter because I have been deserted by those who profess to believe in Democracy, but satisfied that I myself have fought bravely and honestly and have refused to compromise my cause.”
The aim of this book is to give our readers a picture of the case of General Mihailovich as seen in the light of the international Press; a true picture of the case of a brave man who fought for Democracy against Dictatorship and who, after Democracy had won, was murdered by the Dictatorship which had been set up in his country by the very Democracies whose Ally he was.
Let us hope that his sacrifice will not be in vain.
From the book about the shameful betrayal of General Draza Mihailovic
Topic: It is an Honor to be Called a Chetnik (Read 3406 times)