Danilo Stanisavljević

Danilo "Dane" Stanisavljević (Serbian Cyrillic: Данило Дане Станисављевић; 1917 – 24 October 1942) was one the leaders of the uprising of Serbs in Lika against the Independent State of Croatia and later a military officer of the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland with the rank of voivode.

Danilo Stanisavljević
Native name
Данило Станисављевић
Birth nameDanilo Stanisavljević
Other name(s)Dane Cicvara
Nickname(s)Dane
Born1917
Gračac, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary
Died24 October 1942(1942-10-24) (aged 24–25)
Gračac, Independent State of Croatia
Allegiance Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Rankvoivode
Commands heldChetnik Regiment "Vožd Karađorđe"
  • Gračac Chetnik Shock Battalion "Gavrilo Princip"
First attack of Serb rebels on Ustaše (12 April 1941)
  • Battle for Gračac

Commonly known as Dane Cicvara (Serbian Cyrillic: Дане Цицвара), he is best known for being commander of Serb rebels from Gračac who were first to attack the Ustaše of the Independent State of Croatia on 12 April 1941. His elder brother Todor was also member of the rebels. After the Srb uprising, the rebel-controlled territory was peacefully integrated into the Italian occupation zone which for a while saved lives of the remaining Serbs in the region from the ongoing genocide of Serbs by the Independent State of Croatia. Stanisavljević was appointed as a commander of the Gračac Chetnik battalion "Gavrilo Princip". He was also an acting commander of the Chetnik regiment "Vožd Karađorđe".

The Croatian Communist Party and its armed formations of Partisans targeted Stanisavljević because they perceived him and other Chetniks as an obstacle for their revolutionary aims and killed him on 24 October 1942.

Early life

Stanisavljević was born in 1917 in the village Dojići near Gračac, Austria-Hungary (modern-day Croatia).[1] Stanisavljević served in the Royal Yugoslav Army as member of the Mountain Regiment in Ljubljana. He was selected to attend the funeral of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on 21 November 1938 as a member of the honorary guard unit.[2] He had a brother, Todor "Toćan" Stanisavljević, who was also a member of the resistance movement.

World War II

Stanisavljević was commander of Serb rebels from Gračac who were first to attack Ustaše of the Independent State of Croatia on 12 April 1941. On that day rebels commanded by Stanisavljević defended Gračac from Ustaše units coming from Gospić. This action gained Yugoslav Chetnik character because the rebels from Gračac were joined by 50 marines of Yugoslav Royal Navy commanded by Captain Mirko Blajvajz, the commander of the nearby Selce coast command.[3] According to historian Žutić, the first Chetnik units were established near Doboj on the same day by soldiers of the Royal Yugoslav Army.[4] The Chetnik leaders of Lika and Bosnian Krajina wished to save Serbs from their most bloodthirsty enemy - Ustaše, even if they had temporarily to accept rule of Italians and Germans.[5]

In December 1941 the Gračac Chetnik Battalion "Gavrilo Princip" was established.[6] Stanisavljević was appointed as its commander and as acting commander of the Chetnik Regiment "Vožd Karađorđe".[7] Stanisavljević closely collaborated with Pajica Omčikus in Srb and Momčilo Đujić and Niko Novaković Longo.[8]

As commander of Chetnik Battalion, in the middle of May 1942 Stanisavljević issued proclamation titled "Serbs of Dalmatia".[9] In this proclamation he invited Serbs who joined Partisans under control of the Communist Party of Croatia to leave the Partisans who were accused to be the main enemies of Serbs and being under command of Ustaše.[10] This proclamation invited them to join Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland instead.[11]

The Croatian communists targeted Stanisavljević and ordered Partisan unit from Gračac to kill him and all members of the headquarters of Chetnik regiment.[12] According to Milan Šijan, the commander of communist 3rd Lika Brigade, Stanisavljević was a little earlier promoted to the rank of voivode of Lika and Kordun.[13] The partisans attacked the officers of the Chetnik Gračac Brigade and killed 70 Chetniks including Stanisavljević and many other members of the Chetnik command.[14] According to Šijan, Stanisavljević was first wounded when Aleksa Jakšić shot him using light machine gun.[15] Šijan emphasized that Stanisavljević committed suicide not to allow communists to capture him alive.[16] Other communist published sources emphasize that Cicvara and other Chetniks were killed by Partisans who used only knives and bombs.[17]

gollark: Proceed to metabasement #4 for further instructions.
gollark: Cool.
gollark: Oh, the poison induction field works.
gollark: A futile attempt to capture the glory of HTech™.
gollark: I suppose the alveary is kind of that, but worse.

References
  1. Ravnogorska istorija. Evro. 1992. p. 111. Дане Станисављевића-Цицваре, ... Рођен је у селу Дојићи, код Грачаца, 1917. године.
  2. Ravnogorska istorija. Evro. 1992. p. 111. Дане Станисављевића-Цицваре, ... Рођен је у селу Дојићи, код Грачаца, 1917. године.
  3. Žutić, Nikola (19 February 2014). "Српске ватре на тромеђи". novosti (in Serbian). Večernje Novosti. Retrieved 27 April 2020. Прве оружане одбрамбене борбе после успоставе НДХ извели су грачачки устаници и припадници краљевске војске (будући четници) 12. априла под вођством Данета Станисављевића Цицваре. То је, у ствари, била одбрана српског Грачаца од усташа који су долазиле од Госпића као претходница Италијана. Акција је одмах попримила југословенски четнички карактер. Наиме, грачачким устаницима истог дана придружили су се морнари краљевске морнарице (њих око 50), на челу са капетаном корвете, Словенцем Мирком Блајвајзом, који је био командант обалске команде у Селцу.
  4. Žutić, Nikola (11 March 2018). "Др Никола Жутић: Четнички либерализам и антинацизам у Далмацији 1922-1945". Jadovno.com. Jadovno. Retrieved 27 April 2020. Познато jе да jе први четнички одред формиран у околини Добоjа истог дана, 12. априла 1941, од остатака непредате jугославенске воjске.
  5. (Dizdar 2002, p. 155):"Mane Rokvić, Dobroslav Jevđević i Brana Bogunović; ... Vođe srpskih četnika... žele da zasad srpski narod spase bar od najkrvavijeg protivnika, ustaša, makar privremeno primio vlast Nemaca i Italijana"
  6. (Jelić-Butić 1986, p. 139)
  7. Zbornik dokumenata i podataka o narodnooslobodilačkom ratu jugoslovenskih naroda. Vojnoistorijski institut. 1955. p. 39. Gubici na strani neprijatelja iznose 70 mrtvih četnika među kojima se nalazi i Dane Stanisavljević (Cicvara) koji je bio komandant udarnog četničkog bataljona i vršilac dužnosti komandanta puka.
  8. (Jelić-Butić 1986, p. 139)
  9. (Jelić-Butić 1986, p. 139)
  10. (Jelić-Butić 1986, p. 139)
  11. (Jelić-Butić 1986, p. 139):"...sredinom svibnja izdao D. Stanisavljević Cicvara, u funkciji komandanta četničkog bataljona, pozivaju se Srbi u partizanskim jedinicama da se priključe četnicima. Partizani se optužuju kao glavni neprijatelji srpskog naroda te da se u njihovim redovima najčešće nalaze Ustaše u čijim je rukama komanda.
  12. (Šijan 1970, p. 37)
  13. (Šijan 1970, p. 37)
  14. (Šijan 1970, p. 37)
  15. (Šijan 1970, p. 37)
  16. (Šijan 1970, p. 37)
  17. Istorijski arhiv Komunističke partije Jugoslavije. 1949. p. 163. Noževima i bombama pobili su 70 bandita, među njima i Dana Stanisavljevića, „vojvodu Like i Korduna“.

Sources
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.