Search

This paper analyses suicides among members of the People’s Liberation Movement (Narodnooslobodilački pokret, NOP) during the Axis occupation of Serbia in the Second World War. We will identify different types of suicide, determine the motives behind them, and identify those that can be linked to some forms of self-sacrifice. In particular, we will consider whether suicides within the NOP were influenced not only by Communist ideology but also by national traditions in the Balkans and the circumstances of war.

Sreten Žujović (1899‒1976) was one of the leading collaborators of Josip Broz from the territory of Serbia in the period before and during the Second World War. The facts from his biography show that the Yugoslav communists prepared for the revolution and civil war well before 1941, and that the Comintern played a crucial role in their training and ideological formation. Through the life of Sreten Žujović, we can also see how factional struggles within the KPJ weakened the influence of the party in Serbia, and that the conflict between Broz and Gorkić was particularly fatal for their organization. It was shown, however, that Broz was ready to accept cadres who previously belonged to another current, so Žujović was included in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the KPJ, and in June 1941. he became the commander of the Main Staff of the NOP detachment in Serbia. One of the most important demonstrations of loyalty, on the other hand, was the constant reckoning with the ‘Greater Serbian bourgeoisie’, the political elite and the bourgeoisie class from among its own people. Furthermore, from 1942, Žujović held various leadership positions in the Partisan movement, showing how political institutions take precedence over military ones. He continued his political career even after the war in 1945, as Tito’s minister, deputy and close associate. But when there was a big turn in the relations between the USSR and Yugoslavia in 1948, this communist official showed that proletarian internationalism can be applied in relations with his compatriots, but not with the “first country of socialism” in which he was educated and formed. Not accepting the course of the conflict with the IB, Sreten Žujović was dismissed and sentenced to prison. With that, he became another symbol: the way in which KPJ treats dissenters from its ranks, but also how rehabilitation is possible after “revision of positions”.

The plot of Dobrica Ćosić’s novel The Sun is Far Away is deeply rooted in the events of 1942-1943, with reference to other war and post-war years. The second layer consists of the writer’s subsequent political ideas and thoughts, which were then attributed to his literary heroes. Ćosić’s early work, with an emphasis on the novel The Sun is Far Away, cannot be viewed as dissident; according to his motives and conclusions, he is politically engaged and completely “on the Party line”. However, the then open dilemma (whether to fight for freedom at all costs) will follow the author in the following period, and his conclusions presented in 1951 will change in the future. The number of identified historical contents in the novel exceeds the initial expectations and it could be said that for all the basic ideas presented in the book, the author had as inspiration specific historical events and personalities. He shaped them through artistic freedoms, but also in accordance with the ideology of the movement to which he belonged. In our opinion, the motives for the creation of the novel in the early post-war years were also political: to present the Partisan Movement to the Serbian people as part of its historical epic vertical; to make a departure from the USSR and present the Partisan struggle as an independently executed, authentic revolution; to point out the betrayal and crimes of the counter-revolution and the Ravna gora Movement (presented in a politically constructed symmetry as “Serbian Ustashas”), and thus to contribute to the war propaganda that was waged against them even then. In that sense, the novel The Sun is Far Away should not be viewed only as a literary fiction, but as a part of engaged literature which had far-reaching consequences in the formation of the historical consciousness of post-war generations.

Slom ustanka u Srbiji u jesen 1941. otvorio je i pitanje sudbine njegovih učesnika koji su u prethodnom periodu uzeli učešća u aktivnostima protiv nemačkih snaga i srpskih vlasti pod okupacijom. Manji deo pripadnika partizanskih odreda odstupio je sa Vrhovnim štabom u Sandžak, dok je onima koji su ostali u nekadašnjim žarištima ustanka predstojala teška borba za opstanak na terenu. Dok su aktivnosti partizana koji su produžili gerilsku borbu ili po raspuštanju svojih odreda bili uhapšeni i odvedeni u logore detaljno rekonstruisane, pitanje onih koji su tada položili oružje ostalo je u senci istorijskih istraživanja. U istoriografiji se pod pojmom „legalizacija“ 1941. podrazumeva prelazak dela vojno-četničkih odreda u okvire vojnih struktura Srpske vlade pod okupacijom. Povratak primarnim istorijskim izvorima, pre svega arhivskoj građi, ali i pojedinim memoarskim zapisima ukazuje nam da se i jedan deo partizana i komunista na sličan način legalizovao pri kolaboracionističkim formacijama. Njihova legalizacija imala je nešto drugačije karakteristike. Opšta pojava na prelazu 1941/1942. bila je i njihovo privremeno sklanjanje i prelazak u jedinice JVuO. U ovom radu analiziramo karakteristike tog procesa.

The first half of 1945 is characterized by the construction of the revolutionary communist government and its final strike to the „enemies of the people“. This was followed by the oppression of parliamentarism and the destruction of the multi-party system. The political framework for the gathering of the „progressive forces“ in the country was the Popular Front, in which the Communists had absolute dominance. All political groups that were left out of the Popular Front, and most notably, the Democratic Party, soon found themselves under the attack of the new authorities. Echoes of these events were especially evident in Smederevo region (eastern part of the Belgrade District). The beginning of the campaign for the elections of the Constituent Assembly, which were scheduled for November 11th 1945, only strengthened the attacks on pro-democratic parties. In order to eliminate any possible impact of the opposition – which by Election Day was not existent – all declared and even potential enemies of the regime had lost the right to vote in the elections. Their total percentage in districts of Smederevo varied from one to three percent, but those who were convicted were the ones which could affect a much broader category of voters. In the fierce repressive attacks by the authorities – the strongest after the autumn of 1944 in the districts of Smederevo – dozens of people were deprived of their liberty, while the significant number of them was detained, abused, beaten or dismissals from the public service, and several persons were even murdered. On the other hand, the right to vote was significantly expanded to women and workers. Numerous rallies were organized, while agitation was common in factories, institutions and villages. The articles which were published in the weekly „New Days“ – made the propaganda of the Popular Front encompass all the people, to the extent that the individual was almost impossible to brush aside. This campaign was led by Dragoslav Draža Marković. On the Election Day, all „the efforts“ of the Communists and their aides were borne fruit. They had all the logistics available and even the secret service were involved in the places where the turnout was lower, in order to force the citizens to vote. With a number of irregularities and intimidation of voters in the Election Day, and election fraud that occurred in some villages, the list of the Popular Front won a landslide victory. However, if the number of electoral abstainers was combined with the voters of the opposition, their result in the district of Smederevo would on average be, despite all the pressures, about 30 percent per county.