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The Administration of the Independent State of Croatia on the Island of Korčula
Tonko Barčot
Sažetak
In the aftermath of the German invasion on the island of Korčula in December 1943 and the retreat of the Yugoslav People’s Liberation Army in early January 1944, the administrative bodies of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) were organised. The arrival of Ante Mihović, a delegate from Velika župa Dubrava (the Great County of Dubrava), to the head position of the newly-established District of Korčula had marked the establishment of district authorities – the highest administrative body in a district – as well as the local administrations in Korčula, Blato and Vela Luka. Due to a complete lack of Ustasha opposition on the island, members of the Croatian Peasant Party were appointed to positions in the local administration and the village authorities. National police forces had arrived by the end of January. They were assigned to three stations located in municipality seats. District platoon headquarters, with Stjepan Bagarić at the head, were located in Korčula, although its seat was, until April 1944, formally in Trpanj.
The establishing process of the institutions of the Independent State of Croatia on the island was slow and unsystematic due to traffic isolation and constant air raids by the Allies. From the very beginning, the German forces held control over the island, leaving the civil authorities in a subordinate position. The authorities of the Independent State of Croatia were even less perceived by the local population despite their active role in providing supplies, which was a reasonable course in the reality of extreme poverty and hunger. The difficulty of the state of affairs in the country is best illustrated by the impossibility for the Independent State of Croatia to answer to urgent and dramatic appeals by the district head Mihović, and to ship enough food to the island. Zagreb-based Rescue committee for the people on the island of Korčula provided some assistance in this direction. Mihović regularly reported on the partisan activities and anti-propagandist materials, which were published at the urge of the German military authorities.
In March 1944, the Korčula partisan unit started a series of sabotage raids addressed, inter alia, against the civil authorities. As a result thereof, the administration head of Vela Luka and several members of the national police forces were captured; supply deliveries were terminated and telegraph wires cut. From the very beginning, the People’s Liberation Movement had exerted its influence on the election of local administration members. Later, they even relieved disobedient village chiefs from their positions. These actions culminated in the invasion of the Yugoslav People’s Liberation Army forces in late April 1944, at the exact time when a part of the German forces was regrouping and retreating from the island. The mission – the liquidation of the German strongholds in the western part of the island – was accomplished. Although the Yugoslav People’s Liberation Army forces soon withdrew from the island, together with the majority of the population of Blato and Vela Luka, the civil administration of the Independent State of Croatia was never re-established in that part of the island. German forces had still firmly held the eastern part of Korčula. In the period following these events and before the complete retreat of the German forces in mid-September 1944, the life on the island became even more chaotic. The scope of the administration of the Independent State of Croatia was completely narrowed and the partisan actions intensified.
Ključne riječi
the island of Korčula; the Independent State of Croatia; partisans; WWII; 1944
Hrčak ID:
75245
URI
Datum izdavanja:
23.12.2011.
Posjeta: 5.117 *