Kulen Vakuf massacre

The Kulen Vakuf massacre was perpetrated by Communist-led Yugoslav Partisans and groups of non-communist Serb rebels, and involved the killing of between 1,000 and 3,000 Muslim and members of Ustaše (including 100 Croats) in early September 1941 in Kulen Vakuf, then part of the Independent State of Croatia (present-day Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) during World War II. The local Ustaše had previously committed massacres of Serbs in Kulen Vakuf and surrounding villages.

Kulen Vakuf massacre
Kulen Vakuf in 2019
LocationKulen Vakuf in Bosnia and Herzegovina (contemporary Independent State of Croatia)
Date6-8 September 1941
TargetMuslim and Croat civilians and Ustaše
Deathsbetween 1,000 and 3,000 Muslim civilians and soldiers, including 100 Croats
VictimsMuslim and Croat civilians and soldiers from Ustaše or Home Guard units
PerpetratorsCommunist-led Yugoslav Partisans forces and non-communist Serb rebels
Motiveretaliation and Islamophobia
AccusedGojko Polovina

Background

Ethnic Serbs were targeted by the genocidal policies of the Ustaše-led Independent State of Croatia, a puppet state of Nazi Germany established after the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia. The massacres of Serbs committed by the local Ustaše, such as those that took place during July and early August 1941 in villages around Kulen Vakuf, led to reprisals.[1] Such retaliations lasted for short time and were quickly repressed, unlike Ustaše war crimes which were organized from the top of the Croatian government in Zagreb which systematically and persistently pushed and sometimes even forced local Ustaše to commit massacres.[2] Therefore, the formula to describe this kind of events as conflicts of local Chetniks and Ustaše motivated with mutual ethnic hatred and intolerance can be characterized as an oversimplification.[3]

Ustaše massacres of Serbs

The Kulen Vakuf massacre was committed in retaliation for earlier equally massive Ustaše massacres of local Serbs.[4] There are more than 280 identified places where Serbs in Bosnian Krajina were tortured and murdered during the summer of 1941.[5]

In case of region of Kulen Vakuf and its surrounding, there is a long list of villages whose Serb population was subjected to mass massacres: Oraško Brdo, Prkosi, Veliki Stenjani, Renovac, Kalati, Bušević, Kestenovac, Bosanski Srbci, Malo Seoce, ....[6] In one of earlier massacres around Kulen Vakuf Ustaše slaughtered 862 Serbs during one single day, while 950 Serbs were killed in Kulen Vakuf, with particular participation of Miroslav Matijević, a Croat who owned local restaurant.[7] Matijević was one of organizers and main participants in the massacres of Serbs which were initially committed on the hill near church in Kulen Vakuf.[8] Ustaše set on fire an Orthodox church in Kulen Vakuf after they murdered many Serbs in it.[9] The Serb priest of church in Kulen Vakuf was murdered by Ustaše after they first killed his wife and children in June 1941.[10] Ustaše killed all family members of Vukosav, the former priest of Kulen Vakuf church, in front of him, including his two daughters in law and two grandsons.[11]

In early August 1941 all Serb civilians from village Kalati were either massacred or imprisoned in Kulen Vakuf, leaving the village depopulated until Kulen Vakuf and imprisoned civilians were liberated on 6 September 1941.[12] By 30 August 1941 Ustaše killed nearly 200 Serb women and children in the village Kalati near Kulen Vakuf.[13]

The Kulen Vakuf massacre was committed in early September 1941 in Kulen Vakuf, then Independent State of Croatia (today Bosnia and Herzegovina) by the Communist-led Yugoslav Partisans forces and groups of non-communist Serb rebels.[14] The motive was not only retaliation, but also involved deliberate liquidation of the Muslim community.[15] Some of the Muslim victims were members of Ustaše who had committed the massacres of Serbs, while other were murdered because they were thought to be linked to the Ustaše through their ethnicity.[16]

Earlier retaliation massacres

The Kulen Vakuf massacre was preceded by Krnjeuša massacre when rebels killed on 9 August 1941 as many as 240 Croat civilians.[17][18]

When rebels decided to attack Ustaše stronghold Boričevac, they knew that this village was predominantly populated by Croats who could be targeted by some of the rebels. The rebel commanders were concerned about the fate of the Croat population of Boričevac which was perceived as Ustaše stronghold by rebels furious because of the mass massacres of Serb population of Lika, and were glad that civilians escaped from the village to Kulen Vakuf.[19] The Croat population of Boričevac was informed about the expected attack of rebels by one of their leaders who sent them a letter to alarm them about the planned rebel attack so they could escape and avoid blood feud.[20] After capture of Boričevac the rebels discovered two mass graves of Serb civilians in nearby pit Jasenovača, one big pit full of corpses and the other one half-full of corpses of Serb civilians.[21] Some rebels recognized their relatives or members of their families.[22] Although they were ordered not to raize the village, soon the houses in village were set to fire because the command over the rebels at that moment was not possible.[23] Serb rebels subsequently massacred 179 Croat civilians (mostly those that were elderly and infirm, as well as women and children) in Boričevac.[24]

Capture of Kulen Vakuf

Forces

The rebel forces were under command of headquarter in Drvar.[25] The Communist forces consisted of the battalion Freedom (Serbo-Croatian: Sloboda, Слобода) commanded by Stevan Pilipović - Maćuka and Đoko Jovanić and one detachment of communist forces from Lika was commanded by Stojan Matić while Gojko Polovina was their political commessair.[26] Several other communist detachments were commanded by Nikola Karanović and Pero Đilas (who later deserted Communist forces and joined Chetniks to fight against Partisans). The communist forces had their headquarter in Doljanski Bubanj.[27] The rebel forces also included non-communists who were in some sources also referred to as Chetniks. Their commanders included Mane Rokvić who later joined Chetniks and became well known military officer.

The Croatian garrison in Kulen Vakuf was commanded by bojovnik Vladimir Veber and consisted of one battalion of Ustaše forces and Home Guard together with numerous members of local militia whose members were recruitet among Muslims from villages of Ćukovo, Orašac and Klis.[28] Veber was notorious in the whole region of Kulen Vakuf because of massacres of Serbs he committed in period between June and September 1941.[29] Veber found himself blocked in Kulen Vakuf after he first tried to reach Srb from Bihać to fight against the rebels in the Srb uprising and Drvar uprising, but retreated to Kulen Vakuf after being ambushed in village Boričevac and losing 20 of his men.[30] Ustaše managed to gather substantial forces in Bosanski Petrovac, so the rebels first cut the connection between Kulen Vakuf and Bosanski Petrovac, and then attacked village Ćukovi and Orašac, struggling for every house against Ustaše who eventually had to retreat to Kulen Vakuf.[31]

Capture

The decision to attack Kulen Vakuf was made by communist leaders including Marko Orešković, Gojko Polovina and Stevan Pilipović, when they estimated that rebel forces that encircled the town are strong enough for its capture.[32] According to the communist plan for capture of Kulen Vakuf, Freedom battalion was to attack Kulen Vakuf from direction of villages Vrtoče and Prkosi, while detachment from Lika was ordered to cross river Una when after receiving the agreed signal.[33]

When Veber realized that Kulen Vakuf was surrounded by superior rebel forces he decide to break through the rebel lines along the road toward Prkos and further to Bihać, using civilians refugees from Croat populated villages as living shield in front of his forces.[34] Veber had intention to retreat his forces regardless of the possible civil victims.[35]

To disguise their real intentions, Ustaše attacked battalion Freedom late at night on 5 September 1941.[36] When Veber ordered evacuation of the civilians from the town, the Croatian civilians left the town in organized manner.[37] The Muslims were reluctant to leave the town, expecting the surrender of the town's garrison while Muslim traders insisted on evacuation.[38]

Then, during the night Ustaše tried to break through rebel lines meeting strong resistance when they reached village Prkosi.[39]

The captured civilians were brought back to Kulen Vakuf with the intention to transport them to Bihać, against the order of Stojan Matić.[40] That has not happened because Matić was informed about Ustaše attack on Drenovača toward Lapac, so he handed over imprisoned civilians to towns guard and headed toward Lapac with his forces.[41]

Massacre

The first massacres were committed when some of the rebel got drunk and targeted imprisoned Ustaše.[42] Later, when rebels who entered Kulen Vakuf organized exhumation of mass graves they found in the town, they discovered that besides 1,000 Serbs killed by Ustaše little earlier that year in surrounding villages Ustaše killed another 1,000 Serbs in Kulen Vakuf just several days earlier.[43] This incited massive histeria among rebels who blamed all Muslims for Ustaše massacres of Serbs, and they killed more than 1,000 Muslims (or about 2,000 per some sources), including women and children.[44] Some communist officers did whatever they could to protect imprisoned civilians, but they only managed to save small number of them.[45]

The number of massacred Muslims is estimated between over 1,000[46] and more than 3,000 (per contemporary Croatian sources).[47][48]

The communist forces issued a report on 9 September 1941 emphasizing that the order received on 7 September has been executed and Kulen Vakuf liberated, stating that communist detachment from Lika transported prisoners to Martin Brod.[49] The detachment from Lika was commanded by Pero Đilas and they brutally molested imprisoned adults during their transport to Martin Brod.[50]

Aftermath

Kulen Vakuf was set to fire by refugees and some rebels and drunk people.[51] Veber managed to avoid capture and escaped from rebels encirclement.[52] He and all members of his headquarter were killed by communist shock battalion "Čapajev" on 3 October 1941.[53]

When it was informed about what happened during and after the capture of Kulen Vakuf, the Communist leadership requested a detailed report about the massacre insisting on the list of detachments that participated in massacres, looting and burning of houses.[54] This event served as excuse for already planned internal communist struggle against Gojko Polovina, who together with Stojan Matić issued direct order for attack on Kulen Vakuf.[55] According to Polovina, the main cause of this internal conflicts was intention of Vladimir Bakarić to put Partisan detachments from Lika, the most numerous and best rebel units in Croatia, under command of the Communist party of Croatia, which was refused by Polovina since the beginning of the uprising.[56]

To avoid implications that Partisans were war criminals the communist authorities were silent about the Kulen Vakuf massacre, particularly because some of the responsible commanders, like survived the war and advanced in the communist hierarchy, i.e. General Đoko Jovanić awarded with the Order of the People's Hero.

Legacy

The Serbian Orthodox Church canonized priest Vukosav on 28 May 2003.[57]

gollark: Maybe it should just not require verification if there's no ECC library installed yet? But I feel like that could be exploited.
gollark: Oh, it does, neat.
gollark: Oh, that's PIR, not the *local* logs.
gollark: Really? Hmm.
gollark: Actually it doesn't log running disks at all, hmm. Please remind me when I'm done refactoring the updater.

References
  1. (Bulajić 1988, p. 620):"Organizovani ratni zločini kao što su bili oni u julu i početkom avgusta 1941. u srpskim selima u okolini K. Vakufa izazivaju stihiju divlje osvete kao što je bila ona početkom septembra u K. Vakufu...
  2. (Bulajić 1988, p. 620):"....ali je stihijno divljanje osvete kratkotrajno i može se suzbiti.
  3. (Bulajić 1988, p. 621)
  4. (Redžić 2005, p. 18):" ... the site of an Ustasha massacre of Serbs and then of an equally massive retaliation by insurgents against Muslims."
  5. Odbor SANU za sakupljanje građe o genocidu protiv srpskog naroda i drugih naroda Jugoslavije u XX veku (1995). Genocid nad Srbima u II svetskom ratu. Према овом списку, мјеста — стратишта гдје су Срби у Босанској крајини у љето 1941. злостављани и убијани било је више од 280.
  6. (Antonić 2001, p. 109)
  7. (Damjanović 1972, p. 200)
  8. (Antonić 2001, p. 108)
  9. (Dakina 1994, p. 301):" КУЛЕН ВАКУФ. Пошто су у њој поклале више Срба, усташе су цркву запалиле."
  10. (Đurić 1989, p. 138):"Родољуб С. Самарџић, свештеник из Кулен Вакуфа, заклан после жене и деце, јуна 1941. године."
  11. Karanović, Sergije. "Крст Светог Вукосава Куленвакуфског". www.spc.rs. Serbian Orthodox Church. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  12. (Bulajić 1988, p. 620)
  13. (Damjanović 1972, p. 200)
  14. (Levene 2013, p. 285)
  15. (Levene 2013, p. 285)
  16. (Bergholz 2018, p. 22): "Neki od tih novih žrtava bili su ustaše, počinioci onih prvih zločina, dok su mnogi drugi ubijeni zato što se smatralo da su s njima etnički povezani."
  17. Matkovich, Blanka (2017). Croatia and Slovenia at the End and After the Second World War (1944-1945). BrownWalker Press. ISBN 9781627346917.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  18. Dizdar, Zdravko „Četnički zločini u Bosni i Hercegovini 1941-1945", Zagreb 2002.
  19. (Morača 1972, p. 410)
  20. Ratna sećanja iz NOB, 1941-1942: zbornik sećanja. Vojnoizdavački zavod. 1981. p. 614.
  21. (Morača 1972, p. 278)
  22. (Morača 1972, p. 278)
  23. (Morača 1972, p. 278)
  24. "Anti-Fascist Uprising Commemorated in Croatia :: Balkan Insight". 20 December 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  25. Ustanak naroda Jugolavije, 1941: zbornik. Pišu učesnici. Vojno delo. 1964. p. 399. Ta situacija nameće akcije šireg značaja, pa se koncem avgusta 1941. u Drvaru održava vojno savjetovanje....
  26. (Damjanović 1972, p. 196)
  27. (Majstorović & Medić 1961, p. 30):"Četa je bila u sastavu II bataljona kojega je komandant bio Stevo Pilipović- -Maćuka, a politički komesar Đoko Jovanić. Bataljon je imao svoj štab u Doljanskom Bubnju,...."
  28. (Damjanović 1972, p. 196)
  29. (Damjanović 1972, p. 236)
  30. (Bokan 1972, p. 213): "из Бихаћа у Срб и код Борићевца су га устаници сачекали. Изгубио је око 20 људи и с остатком је дошао у Кулен — Вакуф. "
  31. Vojnoistorijski institut (1952). Zbornik Dokumenta. p. 125.
  32. (Morača 1972, p. 403):"По повратку с војног савјетовања из Дрвара, на путу за Мартин-Брод, Марко Орешковић, Гојко Половина, Маћука и ја размотрили смо ситуацију у овом крају. Сагласили смо се о нападу на Кулен-Вакуф. Напад је извршен и усташе су ликвидиране."
  33. (Damjanović 1972, p. 236):"Prema rasporedu za napad na Kulen Vakuf, borci Bataljona »Sloboda«, koji su uništili neprijateljski logor u Vrtočama, dobili su zadatak da napadaju od Vrtoča i Prkosa.
  34. Ratna sećanja iz NOB, 1941-1942: zbornik sećanja. Vojnoizdavački zavod. 1981. p. 615. Ustaše su odlučile da se probiju cestom, koja, uz veoma okomitu brinu, vodi u pravcu Prkosa i dalje, za Bihać. Ispred sebe su kao zaštitnicu postavili izbegli narod iz hrvatskih sela.
  35. Vojnoistorijski institut (1951). Zbornik dokumenata i podataka o narodnooslobodilačkom ratu naroda Jugoslavija. Vojnoistorijski institut. p. 125. Veber je htio izvući vojsku, bez obzira na civilne žrtve.
  36. (Damjanović 1972, p. 196)
  37. Vojnoistorijski institut (1951). Zbornik dokumenata i podataka o narodnooslobodilačkom ratu naroda Jugoslavija. Vojnoistorijski institut. p. 125.
  38. Vojnoistorijski institut (1951). Zbornik dokumenata i podataka o narodnooslobodilačkom ratu naroda Jugoslavija. Vojnoistorijski institut. p. 125.
  39. Ustanak naroda Jugolavije, 1941: zbornik. Pišu učesnici. Vojno delo. 1964. p. 176.
  40. Ustanak naroda Jugolavije, 1941: zbornik. Pišu učesnici. Vojno delo. 1964. p. 176. Narod je vraćen u mesto i, po naređenju Stojana Matića, trebalo ga je uputiti za Bihać. Međutim
  41. Vojnoistorijski institut (1952). Zbornik Dokumenta. p. 133.
  42. (Николић 2009, p. 111)
  43. Odbor SANU za sakupljanje građe o genocidu protiv srpskog naroda i drugih naroda Jugoslavije u XX veku (1995). Genocid nad Srbima u II svetskom ratu. Muzej žrtava genocida i Srpska književna zadruga. По упаду у Кулен-Вакуф, устаници су сазнали да су усташе непосредно пред бјежање, дан-два раније, у Кулен Вакуфу убиле или заклале око хиљаду Срба, а толико и у околним селима. Тада је у Кулен Вакуфу организовано откопавање побијених Срба,
  44. (Hamović 1994, p. 79):"Након продора у град, устанини су отворили масовне гробнице побијених Срба и за те злочине оптужили све Муслимане. ... распамећене страсти, масовну хистерију...."
  45. (Hamović 1994, p. 79)
  46. (Burg & Shoup 1999, p. 38):"The town of Kulen- Vakuf was the scene of a massacre of over 1,000 Muslims by the Serbs in September 1941 after Ustashe excesses the previous summer against the Serbs in eastern Herzegovina."
  47. (Redžić 2005, p. 125)
  48. Hrvatski obzor. Eticon. 1999. p. 203. Koliko je danas poznato, tada je u Kulen- Vakufu ubijeno od 1 000 do 3000 ljudi.
  49. Zbornik dokumenata i podataka o narodno-oslobodilačkom ratu jugoslovenskih naroda: knj. 1-35. Borbe u Bosni i Hercegovini 1941-1945. Vojno-istoriski institut Jugoslovenske armije. 1951. p. 253. ИЗВЈЕШТЛЈ ШТАБА II АРТИЗ АНСКИХ ОДРЕДА У БРДУ ОРАШКОМ ДРВАРСКЕ БРИГАДЕ ОД 9 СЕПТЕМБРА 1941 ГОД. ... Поводом ваше наредбе од 7-IX-1941 год. достављамо следеће: Наши одреди ослободили су и заузели Кулен Вакуф, ... јер другови из Лике су отерали робље за Мартин Брод. У наше руке пало Марко Пилиповић је и оружја доста, што су однели другови из Лике,
  50. (Николић 2009, p. 111)
  51. Vojnoistorijski institut (1952). Zbornik Dokumenta. p. 125. Zapaljen je K. Vakuf od izbjeglica, jednog dijela boraca ogorčenih zbog (ustaške) pljačke i pijanih ljudi, žena itd.
  52. (Majstorović & Medić 1961, p. 56)
  53. (Damjanović 1972, p. 236):"Komandant ustaškog garnizona, zloglasni bojnik Vladimir Veber, kojeg su kasnije, 3. oktobra ubili borci jurišnog odreda »Čapajev«, odlučio je bio da se iz blokade probije preko Prkosa, Lipe i Ripča u Bihać. "
  54. Serbia), Vojnoistorijski institut (Belgrade (1951). Zbornik Dokumenta. p. 302. У вези са догађајима око Кулен Вакуфа захтијевамо од вас да поднесете исцрпан извјештај који су све одреди учествовали у борбама, пљачци, паљевинама... Тражимо препис наредбе ... наређења је у рукопису.
  55. (Николић 2009, p. 111)
  56. (Николић 2009, p. 111)
  57. Karanović, Sergije. "Крст Светог Вукосава Куленвакуфског". www.spc.rs. Serbian Orthodox Church. Retrieved 8 September 2019.

Sources

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