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In an attempt to find an answer to the question of the real importance of Gajret in the social life of the Muslims living in smaller settlements and towns of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the interwar years, the author provides a detailed insight into the activities of Gajret in the vicinity of Tuzla, specifically in Lukavac and Puračić, smaller neighboring settlements which are different when it comes to their socio-economic development, and partially in the social structure of the population itself. The central questions of this thematic are organizational and staff problems and the connections of the Gajret local boards and committees with local politics,along with the important cultural and educational activities of this association.This article can therefore be used as an illustration for the activity of Gajret in the smaller settlements of Bosnia and Herzegovina, respectively, their activities in the field. This article is based on the original archival documents, to a lesser extent complemented by fragmentary notes, oral testimonies and memories.

After several unsuccessful attempts of the NDH military forces to, with the help of the Germans, neutralize with the uprising affected areas of eastern Bosnia, the insurrectional wave at Majevica and Ozren in late 1941 gains in its intensity, potentially endangering the very city of Tuzla. In early November 1941,after burning and expulsion of the Bosniak population from Devetak and Milino Selo, the rebels from Ozren were very close to Puračić. At the last moment and with extreme effort the danger was removed by Muhamed-aga Hadžiefendić, with his Home Guard unit from Tuzla (III. Battalion of the 8th Home Guard Regiment). During these battles he realized the immense danger threatening Bosniaks, not only in Puračić, but also in the wider area of Tuzla, and it was exactly in Puračić that he made the decision to form a special military unit, made up of Bosniaks, which would be able to defend these territories – the famous Hadžiefendić legion,as it was its popular name. Leaving aside the broader elaboration of causes and effects of its creation, the activity during the war and the disappearance of this formation, the aim of this paper is to, by showing the military-political situation around Puračić at end of 1941, remind on bringing decision regarding its formation, which is linked to Puračić, to show its, from the very beginning,territorial and defensive character, its first defensive positions and successful military action against insurgents around Puračić.

The term “Bleiburg tragedy” mostly refers to the forces of Independent State of Croatia (NDH) andcivilians imprisoned in Bleiburg and Slovenia and the tribulations they experienced when retreatingbefore the forces of the Yugoslav army in the finale of the war and immediately after it. Despite being in the focus of the historical science lately (especially in Croatia and Slovenia), this topic is still controversial and disputed in the entire territory of the former Yugoslavia. As is well known, the new communist government had its own vision of the Second World War and thus did not allow this topic to be addressed. In fact, all victims had been forgotten from 1945 to 1990 – the Catholics, Muslims, Serbs, and Slovenes. These topics started to be considered only after the fall of communism, the breakup of the socialist Yugoslavia and the emergence of new countries in this territory. Moreover, the process of revising the past began, including the issue of the victims of the communist regime.In view of the fact that the Bleiburg tragedy largely remained outside of the focus of history in Bosniaand Herzegovina, referring to the results of a local study, the author paid a special attention to the culture of memory and specific perception of the Bleiburg tragedy in the folk memory of the Bosniaks in the region of Gračanica. He also addressed the way this problem had been treated in the Croatian historiography, commemorative gatherings, and political narrative, especially when it comes to theBosniaks who were murdered in Bleiburg as the Muslim Croats. According to the folk memory of theBosniaks, they were those who, as soldiers, fled another failed and essentially foreign country in 1945. While reminding about different perceptions about the delicate topic of Bleiburg in certain classes of the Bosniak society, the author pointed out the fact that the Bleiburg tragedy has not been the focus of interest of the historical science in Bosnia and Herzegovina and he left open the question of the content of commemorations and paying tributes to the Bosniak victims at the Bleiburg field.

Although the Cvetković – Maček negotiations on solving of the so called Croatian issue (from mid-March to the end of August 1939) were held in secrecy, in accordance with principles of secret diplomacy, they were followed by numerous positive or negative public reactions and disputes. Among the very few who almost never publicly declared themselves in this regard were Mehmed Spaho and his closest associates. Having found themselves in a truly ungrateful political position, they did not publicly react even when, in the finale of the negotiations,there was an open discussion about possible division of Bosnia. Trying to detect the causes which led to such a situation, this paper focuses on what Mehmed Spaho was doing during the Cvetković - Maček negotiations and how he reacted to the results of these negotiations outside the public political scene without being able to foresee that he would not live to see the end of that “huge match”, whose results left lasting consequences in this region.