Metropolitan of Budimlje-Niksic of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Metodije and President of the Parliament of Montenegro Andrija Mandić, with their statements on October 12 in Krnovo, once again attempted to falsify history and present Nazi collaborators as "innocent victims", the non-governmental association (NGO) Antifascists of Cetinje announced.
"Vučić's metropolitan, together with the clergy of the Serbian Orthodox Church, served a memorial service for 'bearded young men killed in Krnovo in 1944', while Chetnik duke Andrija Mandić claimed that a 'crime against the youth of Montenegro' had occurred at that time, stating that 'more than three hundred unarmed young men were brutally shot by a fraternal hand'. Such claims are not only untrue, but also deeply offensive to all those who actually died in the fight against fascism," the NGO said.
Anti-fascists from Cetinje have emphasized that they have no intention of explaining historical facts to priests of the Serbian Orthodox Church and Chetnik duke Andrija Mandić because, as they say, they know the truth well, but they are consciously distorting it.
"That is why we are not writing this response for them and other foreign agencies, but for the honest citizens of Montenegro, so that they will not once again be exposed to shameless attempts to turn Nazi collaborators into victims and anti-fascists into criminals," the statement said.
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No crime took place in Krnovo in August 1944, claim the Antifascists of Cetinje, but rather an armed struggle between the Partisans and the Chetniks of Pavle Đurišić, who at that moment were part of the occupying forces under German command.
"As part of the German operation 'Ribecal' (better known as the 'Durmitor operation'), strong forces were sent against the partisan units: the 7th SS Division 'Prince Eugen', the 13th SS Division 'Handžar', the 369th Legionary Division, the 1st Mountain Division, the 363rd Regiment of the 181st Division, the 'Bendel' Combat Group, the 'Krempler' Legion, the Bulgarian 24th Division, parts of the 5th Police Regiment, the 1st and 11th Ustasha and 8th and 9th Home Guard Brigades, and strong Chetnik forces from Montenegro and eastern Bosnia. So, the Chetniks together with the Ustashas, Home Guards, Handžarli, Bulgarian fascists, and all together and under the command of the Germans.
"The Chetnik units consisted of the so-called Montenegrin Volunteer Corps of Pavle Đurišić, which were part of Nedić's army, together with the Serbian Volunteer Corps of the fascist Dimitrije Ljotić. The creation and equipping of the Montenegrin Volunteer Corps was approved by the German Southeast Command and the Reich Foreign Ministry through envoy Neubacher. In other words, Đurišić's Chetniks fought alongside the Nazis and Ljotić's men, and against the partisans who were the only ones fighting for the liberation of the country," the statement said.
The units that the Partisans clashed with at Krnovo in August 1944 were not innocent youth, say the Antifascists of Cetinje, but rather formed and trained Chetnik regiments under the command of Pavle Đurišić, in direct cooperation with the German occupiers.
"The Eighth Iron Regiment was formed as an elite, 'flying' Chetnik unit with around 1.700 soldiers, trained in Kosovo Lug near Danilovgrad. So, it was not unarmed youth, but an army under the full command of the Nazis. These were quisling units that fought side by side with the Nazis and Ustashas, not 'innocent young men'. In the 'Durmitor Operation', the goal was to crush the Partisan forces and prevent the evacuation of the wounded from the airport in Piva. The German-Chetnik forces were three times larger.
Pavle Đurišić's Chetniks directly collaborated with the Germans, attacking the positions of the Seventh Montenegrin Youth Brigade 'Budo Tomović', trying to capture Krnovo and stop the evacuation of partisan wounded from Piva. After several days of fighting, the partisans managed to hold off the enemy and enable the evacuation of about 800 wounded to Italy. The 'Iron Regiment' suffered heavy losses and disintegrated in panic. Military historian Dr. Mitar Đurišić wrote about the battle in his monograph on the 'Seventh Montenegrin Youth Brigade Budo Tomović' (Belgrade, 1973): 'The frantic mass of the 'iron regiment' was spinning in a circle, beaten almost from all sides. The remaining Chetniks had no choice but to throw down their weapons and raise their hands in surrender,'" states the Antifascists of Cetinje.
As the statement adds, the Seventh Brigade attacked and surrounded the so-called "Iron Regiment" and, according to most sources, around 350 Chetniks were killed in that battle.
"They were not shot, as the Chetnik voivode and the President of the Parliament of Montenegro perfidiously insinuate, but died in battle. So, this is not a 'massacre of innocent young men', but a defeat of an elite Chetnik unit in open combat, side by side with the Nazis. The commander of the 'iron regiment', Miloš Pavicevic, managed to escape with a small escort. Around 180 Chetniks and some officers were captured, who later joined the partisans, which once again destroys the narrative of 'communist revenge'. Pavle Đurišić's Chetniks and the Eighth Iron Regiment fought side by side with the infamous SS division 'Prince Eugen', the same one that had committed the massacre in Velika just ten days earlier, and devastated Piva the year before that. Now these same Chetniks were helping the Nazis to re-enter Piva," the Antifascists of Cetinje remind.
These are historical facts, they point out, and they leave no room for manipulation about "bearded young men" and "fratricidal crime."
"Pavle Đurišić, whose men died at Krnovo, was a collaborator of the Nazis and fascists, commander of units that burned villages and slaughtered civilians. The sixth commandment of God is: Do not kill!, and Pavle Đurišić, by his own admission, slaughtered 8000 innocent and helpless women, elderly people and children. That is why it sounds terrifying when the Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church Ljubiša Ostojić - Metodije says of Pavle Đurišić today: 'The most important thing is that we be like him'. If 'similarity' to Pavle Đurišić is a role model today, then it is a reflection of the deep illness and fascism of Montenegrin society, to which the priests and bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church contributed the most.
But the truth remains. On the right side of history were those who fought against the fascist and Nazi occupiers, not those who served them. At Krnovo, Đurišić's Chetniks, fighters under German command, died in the battle with the partisans — not innocent young men, and no memorial service, temple, or speech by Andrija Mandić can change that fact. And to Duke Mandić, we say: Reconciliation cannot be built on lies and manipulation!", said the Antifascists of Cetinje.
They told Metropolitan Metodije that it would be good to remind himself that it was an honor for the Chetniks to fight alongside the Italians and Germans, not against them.
"They received salaries, ammunition and macaroni from them, while together they killed their compatriots - the partisans who were the only ones fighting for the liberation of the country. And it was not communism that created 'dog graveyards', but fascism that killed, and the Chetniks served it. History is not written by myths, but by facts," the statement concludes.
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