Who is responsible: from accusations to silence

Continuation of yesterday text "Searching for the causes of the tragedy"

In examining the views on the causes and responsibility for this crime, in which the interlocutors, the surviving participants, speak unequivocally in their testimonies "on religious and national hatred" as the sole and main cause. Only a few decades later, in a text by the respected Ulcinj intellectual Dr. Nail Drago, a completely new opinion appeared, which we believe is more an expression of an anti-communist reflex than one based on facts: "Although 79 years have passed since the massacre in Bar, we have not had the opportunity to read anything concrete about this tragedy from the government structures of Albania. In fact, this tragedy is being kept quiet, even in the calendar of historical events, because they are aware of the responsibility they bear. Because, how can it be allowed that entire echelons of Kosovo citizens, accompanied by Serbian-Montenegrin soldiers, allegedly recruited to participate in the final pursuit of the enemy in Istria and Slovenia, pass through the territory of Albania, when the Second World War ended. There is no doubt that this was a monstrous and anti-state act by the then leadership of Albania, which is responsible for the massacre in Bar".[1]

Of course, to this opinion one can only add that the cooperation between the Yugoslav and Albanian partisans during the war was intensive and mutual and that this cooperation was promoted by the highest Yugoslav party leaders, who were in the territory of Albania as instructors. Therefore, "accusing" Albania for having approved the passage of parts of its allied army is unfounded, unless documents are shown that everything was planned and thought out in advance, especially since the war was not yet over. We have neither documentation nor indications that would indicate such a thing. On the contrary. I am reading a voluminous monograph of 436 pages, "10th Montenegrin National Liberation Brigade, Titograd 1984 (editorial board: Ratko Vujošević, Branko Lazović, Dr. Zoran Lakić, Dr. Radoje Pajović), editor Dr. Zoran Lakić and we don't find a word about "Bar massacre", or rather, the event in which this brigade was the main actor.

Omission or intention? We could hardly accept that this was an omission, because this is indicated by excerpts from the published diaries of the brigade's fighters: Dr. Danilo Vujičić and Branko Krkeljić, who say that they are missing (?) parts that would refer to the end of March and the beginning of April 1945, because in Dr. Danilo Vujičić, after the description of December 13 and his stay in liberated Cetinje, the following description follows: "Somewhat later, after the liberation of Podgorica, the entire Tenth Brigade was deployed along the Adriatic, from Bojana to Herceg Novi, and the battalion headquarters was in Budva. The headquarters was moved to Stari Bar on March 15, 1945, units to Bar and its surroundings, and one company to Krajina near Lake Skadar. For the residents of Bar, our amateur group performed 'Water from the Mountain', which we had previously successfully performed in Budva. The transfer to the Montenegrin coast, by order of the Headquarters of the III Shock Corps, was aimed at 'securing the coast, part of the border with Albania, and assisting the authorities and socio-political organizations in the field'. Therefore, the units of this brigade were deployed in various regions: Brigade Headquarters, reconnaissance company, mortar and machine gun company and other headquarters units - Bar; second battalion - Igalo-Herceg Novi-Luštica; fourth battalion - Radanoviće-Grbalj, first battalion - Petrovac-Bar; and third battalion - Ulcinj-Vladimir-Ostros. Somewhat later, the second and third battalions exchanged their areas of operations. The fifth battalion was disbanded immediately after the brigade's arrival on the Primorje coast.. [2]

The published list of fighters and their surnames indicate that the fighters were mainly from Cetinje and its surroundings, the Nikšić, Danilovgrad and Podgorica regions, as well as Bar and Ulcinj, and that it was of mixed national and religious composition, as its ranks also included: (Aručević Muho, Aručević Jusuf, Begzić Sulejman, Demirović Osman, Divanović Bajram, Đuraković Rizo, Zef Ljuca, Kambarov Muhamed, Karamazović Junuz, Lalatović Rizo, Rašketić Omer, Strinić J. Džemo, Strinić J. Slado, Strinić J. Halid, Čabović Smail, Hajdarević Ramadan). The selection of the names of these fighters is intended only to show that the brigade was a multi-confessional and multinational group in its composition, and bearing this fact in mind, and especially what was published in the brigade's publications, it would be difficult to get the impression that national and religious intolerance was its distinguishing feature. Of course, such general conclusions can be refuted by individual examples. In this sense, the way in which recruits from Kosovo are referred to in parts of Vujović's extensively quoted statement, which often uses the expressions ("white-capped", "Kosovo", instead of Kosovars, and sometimes also calls them "savages"). However, let's say that this is part of folklore and that in such situations, behavior is dictated by the command staff, on whom military discipline and compliance with orders depend exclusively.

Immediately after the brigade was established, by order of the 2nd Shock Corps Headquarters dated 15 September 1944, Captain Nikola Banović[3], the former deputy commander of the 6th Montenegrin NOU Brigade, was appointed as the brigade commander, and Stevo Kovačević, the former battalion commissar in the 6th Montenegrin NOU Brigade, was appointed as the political secretary. “By decision of the 2nd Shock Corps Headquarters, the following were appointed to the 10th Montenegrin Brigade Headquarters: as deputy commander Lieutenant Nikola Živković, the former battalion commander in the 6th Montenegrin NOU Brigade; as chief of staff Captain Vladimir Dragović, the former battalion commander in the 6th Montenegrin NOU Brigade. Other members of the brigade headquarters will be appointed later. The 10th Montenegrin NOU Brigade will be part of and under the command of the Coastal Operational Group. The Coastal Group Headquarters is authorized to appoint battalion headquarters and company commands, as well as other necessary leaders in the brigade… This order - on the day of the formation of the brigade - shall be read out in front of the formation”. The order was signed by the political commissar, Colonel Radoje Dakić, and the commander, Major General Radovan Vukanić. Already in Order No. 1, dated September 18, 1944, Commander Nikola Banović appointed the battalion headquarters.

Incidentally, the establishment of this brigade on September 18, 1944 in the village of Buronje was attended by the then secretary of the provincial committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia for Montenegro and the Boka Bay, Blažo Jovanović… On the day of its formation, the brigade had 850 fighters and leaders. It should be noted that at the time of the events in Bar, the brigade commander was Gašo Marković[4], who was dismissed after this event and Nikola Živković was appointed commander. By the end of the war, 1.600 fighters had passed through the brigade. The brigade was demobilized on March 10, 1946. In any case, this brigade was obviously composed of fighters from the celebrated Lovćen detachment, the Nikšić strike battalion, and the Ljubotinje company. Overall, if we keep in mind the combat paths of these units, it could be said that these were hardened and reliable fighters. It would be hard to believe that after everything they went through, the battles they fought, that the fighters of this brigade were among those who chanted partisan slogans about "brotherhood and unity" and the need to develop tolerant interethnic relations was understood only formally. This again does not mean that their awareness in relation to the real or imaginary “enemy” was marked by humane and humane treatment. After all, before the tragic events of April 1, 1945, we do not encounter examples of religious and national intolerance among the members of this brigade. Subsequent “reading” in an attempt to explain what happened seems to us to be conditionally acceptable.

One of those Barans who knew a lot about this event and, like others, took this knowledge to his grave, although the author of these lines was convinced in numerous conversations with him that he was in possession of important documents about this event, because he saw them in a box he hid under his bed, and he also announced his readiness to collect them all and turn them into a book, was a former member of UDBA and long-time president of SUBNOR Bar, Nikola Masoničić. Although Goran Nikolić[5 (?) considers him a member of the 10th Brigade, his name is not (?) in the list of brigade fighters. However, regardless of this, Masoničić was in this field at the time and was precisely informed about the event, and his memories published in the local press must be taken seriously, regardless of the fact that the author's contribution published in the monograph on the 10th Montenegrin Brigade does not mention this event.

Although he was of the opinion that "Our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will suffer for this evil", Masoničić, like many of his generation, imagined that "evil" be forgotten if he is kept quiet about. However, according to his account, published in "Novi Barske Novine", Masoničić claims that he was not in Bar at the time of the killing of the recruits, but that he arrived there that same evening. However, he apparently participated in the investigation because he also mentions the name of Čedo Dragović as a local who typed the report...

The author is a regular member of CANU, BANU and DANU.

To be continued tomorrow

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[1] Ibid,115-116.

[2] See more: 10th Montenegrin National Liberation Strike Brigade, Titograd 1984, 314.

[3] Banović Nikola, born on March 22, 1920 in the village of Prekornica near Cetinje. Commander of the 10th Brigade since its establishment.

[4] Gašo Blagojev Marković, born on December 18, 1910 in the village of Kuside, Nikšić. Since December 1944, commander of the 10th Montenegrin Division.

[5] Nikolić Goran, n.d.