Numerous delegations from the countries of the former SFRY will gather today and tomorrow in Tjentište, where they will mark the 79th anniversary of the famous battle on Sutjeska, and there will be no Podgorica residents in the Valley of Heroes. Zarija Vukašinović - the last living hero from Ljuba's grave.
The reason for his absence is Vukašinović's hundred years, which he lived through even though almost eight decades ago he could have easily lost his head on the mountain pass on Zelengora, where about fifty of his comrades - fighters of the Fourth Montenegrin Strike Brigade - remained forever.
"It was difficult, but we survived," Vukašinović told "Vijesta" and added that today is much worse - "let him understand what he wants".
The last hero from Ljuba's grave turned 100 years old on January 30, he lives in his home in Ulica kralja Nikola in Podgorica, he says that he feels well and takes regular walks.
Starina spoke to "Vijesti" before, and today he says that he clearly remembers the details of the famous battle that generations of schoolchildren in the former Yugoslavia learned about, because Ljuba's grave - was not allowed to fall...
Even the passing century does not prevent him from saying that he would like to visit once more the pass where practically the entire Second Company of the Third Battalion of the Fourth Montenegrin was lost, although he moves with the help of a stick. He says, he would be happy to go if someone would take him, to see what Ljuba's grave looks like today, on which the monument was built...
The fifth enemy offensive, Operation Schwarz (Black) was conducted from mid-May to mid-June 1943, and the feat of the Montenegrins at Ljubina's grave is only part of the heroism and sacrifice that enabled the breakthrough of the main part of the partisan army and the Supreme Headquarters led by Tito from the German hoop. The outcome of the battle on Sutjeska largely determined the fate of the Partisan movement and the future of Yugoslavia, and it was paid for with more than 7.000 dead fighters, of which around 2.000 were from Montenegro...
Delegation of SOBNOR of Montenegro, with the president Radojica Radojević at the head, will lay wreaths today and bow to the shadows of heroes, during the commemoration of the 79th anniversary of the epic on Sutjeska.
It was announced that the delegation of OBNOR 1941-1945 will also attend the meeting near the monumental monument in Tjentište. from Bar, Podgorica, Nikšić, Bijelo Polje, Beran, Pljevlja, Herceg Novi, Kotor, Tivat, Budva, Danilovgrad, Cetinje, Andrijevica and Plužine, i.e. more than 200 people.
Delegations of OBNOR from the city municipalities of Golubovci and Tuzi, which inherit the Yugoslav idea, will also come to Tjentište and lay wreaths.
Radojević said that honor will be paid to the heroes, patriots, freedom fighters and heroes of the Sutjeska battle, one of the largest and bloodiest in the Second World War on the territory of the former Yugoslavia.
"It was a heroic struggle of libertarian youth against Nazi-fascist criminals. In these areas, in the Valley of Heroes, from May 15 to June 15, 1943, freedom soaked in blood was born, brotherhood and unity strengthened, conditions were created for a life worthy of man," said Radojević for "Vijesti".
He assessed that the battle on Sutjeska is the best example of the joint struggle of members of all nations from the entire area of the former SFRY, who, guided by the libertarian idea, were ready to give their lives.
According to historical sources, twenty thousand partisans, with around three thousand seriously wounded, "slaughtered" for a month with more than 120 thousand Germans, Italians, Bulgarians and local traitors. The ring was broken on the morning of June 10, near Balinovac, when the First Proletarian Day was held Koča Popović smashed the German forces in the assault. In the next few days, the remaining partisan forces, including the Supreme Headquarters and Commander Tito, who was wounded on June 9, also passed in that direction.
Almost 7.500 fighters, including almost 600 women, paid for the most difficult partisan battle with their lives. Practically all brigades had a third of the total number of casualties.
Many partisan commanders and prominent revolutionaries were killed: Sava Kovacevic, Vasilije Vako Đurović, Nikola Nino Marković, Veselin Masleša, Ph.D Simo Milosevic, Nuria Pozderac, Ivan Goran Kovačić, Olga Popović Dedijer, Pero Ćetković...
258 fighters from Sutjeska were awarded the Order of National Hero, including 45 who died, as well as 16 brigades.
The Fourth Montenegrin was also awarded, and Zarija Vukašinović deserved it - life. He is one of the 13 fighters of the brigade that was formed the year before, precisely in Zelengora.
Vujošević previously spoke to "Vijesti" about his memories of Sutjeska, the period after the end of World War II, his stay on Goli otok...
Even today, he says that he remembers names, toponyms, and he remembers even after 79 years that the Germans attacked with mortars and infantry, and when the partisans repelled those attacks, they retreated from the very top of the pass, because then the planes - "pikes" - arrived.
"Tito told us that Ljuba's grave must be defended at the cost of his life. In our company there were from Bjelopavlić, three of us from Zeta and one soldier from Bugojno (BiH). Radisav Raspopović he was the company commander".
In the heaviest clashes, the defenders of Ljuba's grave, repelling all enemy attacks, sent a famous message to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and the Supreme Headquarters:
"As long as you hear the shots of our rifles at Ljuba's grave, the Germans will not pass. And when that doesn't happen, know that there are no more living proletarians on it".
The battle on Sutjeska fell on half of the textbook page - the biggest grave of Montenegrin partisans, during the decades-long government that declaratively swore by the achievements of the National Liberation Struggle.
On the day when the 79th year of the battle is being celebrated at Tjentište, there are only a few paragraphs in History for the 9th grade, which "Vijesti" previously wrote about.
Unlike elementary school students who once studied in detail the Fifth Enemy Offensive and the heroism of the proletarians, knew all the important toponyms for the outcome of the battle and its heroes - from Krekov, Donji and Gornji bars, Ljubina grob, Vučevo and Balinovac... - Montenegrin high school graduates from textbooks today they can only learn little things.
War crimes against wounded and civilians
According to historical sources, a large number of partisans who died were exhausted fighters and wounded who were killed by Germans and Chetniks.
After the Third Shock Division of Sava Kovačević, who was killed during the breakthrough attempt, with the main part of the central hospital, failed to get out of the ring, on June 12, according to German sources, 214 dead partisans were counted at Tjentište, and 34 were captured. The German report also mentions a mass grave of typhus and that all the surrounding villages were burned for fear of infection...
In the report of the German 1st Mountain Division it is written: "498 captured, of which 411 were shot".
The partisans hid most of the immobile wounded, around 700, on Piva Mountain, but almost all of them were killed.
A large number of civilians were also killed - in the town of Dola in Piva alone, the SS killed 7 people on June 522, including 109 children.
In the village of Grab, according to German sources, 70 women and children were shot, after the commander of the 118th fighter division suspected that they were supplying the partisans with food.
The rush of the proletarians broke the hoop in five minutes
The Germans were completely surprised, so they failed to organize resistance, Rodoljub Čolaković wrote in Records from the Liberation War, after a conversation with the commander of the First Proletarian Division, Danilo Lekić.
"Only the guns on duty opened fire, but they were not enough to stop the onslaught of the entire brigade. After a short pause, caused by the fire of the on-duty weapons, the brigade moved forward again like a wave and the fastest fighters were already jumping into the enemy's trenches. In hand-to-hand combat, the Germans only fought to gain as much time as they needed to escape, otherwise there was no organized resistance at all. Panicked, the Germans fled individually and in smaller groups through the forest, leaving behind their weapons and war preparations. Thus, the battle for Balinovac, despite the fact that the enemy with a number slightly greater than our forces was in fortified positions and that a tortured and exhausted brigade attacked him, ended within 5 to 6 minutes. I don't know any other case where in such a short time, in one collision, such a significant success was achieved - to break through the ring and win positions from which it was much easier and more successful to maneuver".
Bonus video:
